A Stowaway's Space Adventure
by OliviaR5Warbler
Summary: An hour after leaving Yorktown Scotty calls Sulu and Kirk down to Engineering, he's found a small stowaway in the form of Sulu's daughter Demora. Too late to send her back Sulu must keep her with him in Space but is worried as to what in the world could have caused this very un-Demora-like behaviour. What he discovers will change everything. Rated M for a later chapter.
1. Chapter 1: The Stowaway

Chapter 1

The Enterprise had left Yorktown just over an hour ago and was already back out in deep space. After being stranded there over a few months while the Enterprise had been rebuilt the crew had gotten to see each other in new ways. But for Sulu, it meant he got to spend more time with his daughter, Demora. She had been crushed when he had told her he was going back into space. She missed him, when not in her activities she had spent every waking moment with him, falling asleep against his side on an evening as he read star maps or route plans he's been arranging with Kirk and Chekov for the rest of their mission.

Now they were at Warp with five hours before they were due to drop out of it. Alpha shift were all at their posts when Kirk's communicator let out an alert. "Scotty to Bridge, Cap'n, you might wanna come down here."

"What's wrong Scotty?"

"Just get down here, and you might want t' bring Sulu with you." Sulu and Chekov exchanged puzzled looks at the console and Sulu turned to look at Kirk.

"Be right there Scotty, Mr Spock, you have the conn." Sulu stood and another pilot took his place as he followed Kirk to the elevator. They got off at the warp core and went to find Scotty, they didn't speak, both too unsure about why they were needed.

"Ah, there y'are." Scotty said and they walked and talked.

"Scotty what is it that required both me and Sulu to come down here?"

"We have a stow away Cap'n." He looked to Sulu, "a small stow away," he rounded a corner and Sulu laid eyes on his daughter.

"Demora?"

"Daddy!" Demora pushed out of Scotty's chair and ran up to him, wrapping her arms around his waist which she could barely reach.

"Demora what are you doing here?" He asked pulling her back and kneeling to her level.

"I wanted to come with you, you said you'd take me to space one day."

"I meant when you were older and I wasn't at work. Is there any way to send her back?" He asked, knowing Ben would be going out of his mind right now.

"I don't want to leave-"

"Negative Mr Sulu, we're too far t' teleport her." Demora looked a bit too pleased about that.

"How did you even get on board?"

"I walked, nobody saw me and I hid."

"Hid where?" Kirk asked.

"In a bloody ammunitions pod." Scotty told them and Sulu shot his daughter a stern look.

"That was very dangerous," he told her. "Come on, we have to tell your dad where you are. He's probably worried sick right now." Demora muttered something under her breath but Sulu couldn't tell what it was and took her by the hand leading her to the communication centre shooting Kirk a look of apology.

When he got through Ben looked frantic. "Hikaru, I- I don't know what happened but I can't find-" Sulu held up his hand and signed with his hands as he spoke. As a child Ben had been ill and lost the hearing in his right ear and was partially deaf in his left ear. He wore hearing aids, but Ben and Hikaru had felt it important to teach Demora to sign.

"She's here, she stowed away on the Enterprise."

"Oh thank God," Ben sighed relieved. "I mean she did what?"

"We're too far gone to teleport her back; she'll have to stay here." Ben nodded, still coming to terms with his relief.

"Until you get back?"

"I'm afraid so."

After an hour of talking and making plans for a weekly if not more call and Demora's schooling arrangements Hikaru and Ben hung up. Sulu turned back to his daughter. "First you're going to apologize to Mr Scott. Second to the Captain. Then you're grounded," he told her. She opened her mouth to protest but closed it again at his stern look and just nodded. This wasn't what she'd had in mind at all. They arrived back at the Warp Core and found Scotty. "Scotty, Demora has something she'd like to say to you." He nudged her forwards.

"I'm sorry I hid inside of the ammunition pod. And I'm sorry for stowing away."

"Alright, no one was hurt, just don't do it again. Understood?" Demora nodded. "OK then. Apology accepted." He smiled at Sulu who nodded and lead Demora away and to his room where Kirk was waiting for him.

"I'm assigning you a small family quarters, they're pretty much the same as what you have now but there's a second small room attached to the living space."

"Thank you Kirk, I believe my daughter has something to say."

"I'm sorry I stowed away on your ship Mr Kirk."

"So long as you're OK, you could have been really hurt in there."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry, just don't do it again." She nodded.

"I promise."

Inside Sulu's quarters he pulled his chair from the desk, "sit. Don't move unless you're going to use the bathroom." He told her before going about and packing his belongings. Fortunately, there wasn't much to pack as he had unpacked his clothes and gone straight to the bridge before. Demora sat there, watching him and when he was done he handed her a plant in a pot. "Be careful with this one OK?" She nodded and followed him to their new quarters where Kirk had told them they would be staying.

It looked almost identical to his previous quarters, although there was a third room opposite the bathroom door which was for Demora. Sulu went to the replicator and got a children's book. "There's your room, go inside, leave the door open and read. I'll finish moving my things over." Demora took the book, she knew she was in deep trouble.

Sulu remained focussed on moving his things before replicating some items for Demora, he started with clothes and hygiene and finished by getting a couple more books. When he ungrounded her he'd ask for one of the child locked PADDs so she could play games and talk to the other children on the ship and send messages to Ben, but until then she could read and colour. And practice for school which she should have been starting in a few short weeks, but now on the ship would be in just days. He sent an email and enrolled her in the school on board. There were only a few children already on board and the class was nowhere near capacity.

Finally, he filled in the paperwork for the superiors at Star Fleet. Bringing a child on board required lots of paperwork.

He sent the last form off and shut off his PADD. Rubbing his eyes he checked the time, Alpha shift would be over by now, someone knocked on the outer door to the quarters. The doors slid open to reveal Chekov. "Hey, come in," Sulu said turning back into the room.

"I came to see if you were alright, the Keptin didn't offer much explanation to why you were not coming back to the shift."

"Long story," he told his friend, "Demora stowed away on the ship and by the time Scotty found her we were too far away from Yorktown to send her back." Chekov looked surprised. He'd met Sulu's family while the Enterprise was rebuilt, it wasn't like his daughter to do something like that.

"That is very un-her." He said confused.

"Tell me about it, have you been to the mess yet? Mind if we join you?"

"Also why I came to you." Chekov smiled.

Demora's eyes grew wide with wonder as they walked through the ship to the mess, stopping briefly at the Botany Lab so Sulu could water the plants he was growing there which could not be kept in his quarters. She stayed back with Chekov while her dad watered his plants, though she stood on her toes to attempt to see what he was mixing in the water for each plant until Chekov lifted her so she could see. In the mess Demora ate her dinner in the corner, her dad and Chekov sitting close by but talking privately.

"Do you think I should be worried? I mean even you said it's not like her to do this," Sulu asked.

"Hikaru I'm sure she just misses you when you're in space, you miss her." Chekov told him. Sulu considered but shook his head.

"I don't know Pavel, something seems off," he said. "Maybe I should call Ben and ask him how she was before we had shore leave?"

"It cannot hurt."

Later on when it was almost the start of the sleep cycle for Alpha shift Sulu tucked his daughter into her bed. "Daddy, I'm sorry I sneaked onto the Enterprise," she told him. He sighed he knew he was being hard on her and she was young but he needed to see this punishment through.

"I know Demora, but you understand why I'm upset right?"

"Because it's dangerous."

"Exactly, now go to sleep, you're starting with the Starfleet on board school tomorrow, you'll be there most of your time."

"But it's not September for weeks yet."

"Well on the Enterprise you're going to spend a lot of time in class. Mainly because I have to work. Don't worry I'm sure you'll enjoy it. Night sweetheart."

"Night daddy," she said as he kissed her forehead.

He closed the door to her room and sighed. He didn't know what to do. He never really had to be this hard on her, probably because he was away. Ben usually did this type of the parenting. He decided to call him, let him know she was OK. Ben didn't pick up his PADD so he just sent a message before changing for bed himself.


	2. Chapter 2: The Truth Finds A Way

Chapter 2

The next morning Sulu dropped Demora off at the school room and said goodbye to her, he hovered in the doorway briefly as she sat at a table and chatted with another little girl who looked around the same age. He smiled to himself as he headed to the bridge, his worries about her being OK melting away. They had tried contacting Ben before breakfast but he didn't answer, so they sent a picture of Demora in her new uniform and went on their way. Demora hadn't seemed too interested in calling him but Sulu didn't think much of it.

He relieved the pilot and said good morning to his friends, checking through the coordinates Chekov had sent through to him. Kirk joined them on the bridge shortly after Sulu arrived and reviewed the course that had been plotted to their next destination.

Sulu neared the end of his shift when he got a message from Ben his PADD. _'Sorry I missed you earlier, overslept. B- x.'_ He left it until after his shift, though something didn't add up. Ben never overslept, even if he did it wouldn't be until 2 in the afternoon, which it would have been in Yorktown.

Demora hugged him when he picked her up from class and they went to the Long-Distance communicators to call Ben. Demora stayed very quiet during their call and barely spoke to her dad. Sulu didn't know what to make of it, but he chose not to comment.

From that day, Sulu began to notice more things. 1. Ben became increasingly difficult to get a hold of and when they did he seemed distracted. 2. Demora spoke very little or not at all while talking to Ben. And 3. Demora was hiding something from him.

 _A few weeks previous, Ben and Sulu's first talk after Demora was found:_

 _Demora sat in the waiting area of the Long-Distance communicators. She was in trouble she knew that much. Her dads were talking and she could hear them. She was angry at her dad, Ben. She knew things he wasn't telling her other daddy but she didn't want to upset him. She knew her dad was doing bad things because when her daddy came on leave from Starfleet the visits stopped._

 _While her daddy was in space, her dad had visitors, and some of them stayed overnight. He thought she didn't know, but she could hear, her hearing was really good. One of her dad's visitors had spoken to her once. Told her not to tell her daddy, or he would be very upset. She was 4 at the time and didn't want her daddy to be upset. So she didn't tell. But she wished she had._

One day Sulu had had enough. He couldn't understand why Demora was being so distant from Ben or why Ben was so hard to get a hold of. He sat her down at the table in their quarters. "Sweetie I need you to tell me something," Demora looked worried, he was nervous, he had no idea what the answer to his question could be. "Why won't you speak to your dad?"

"'M not s'pposed to tell you." She said quietly, his anxiety rose.

"What aren't you supposed to tell me? Demora you aren't in trouble I'm just worried about you, you're very quiet."

"But he'll be mad at me."

"Who will?"

"Dad, and dad's friend. His friend told me not to tell you because you'd be upset."

"Why would I be upset?" He asked.

"Because dad has sleepovers." Sulu paused, wondering what she could mean by that.

"Sleepovers with who?" He asked cautiously.

"A man. I think his name is Mike, he only comes over when I'm s'pposed to be asleep. But he has loud feet. He wakes me up." Sulu didn't want to go on; he was starting to realise what she was saying.

"Are you sure?" Demora nodded. "Wait here a minute?" She nodded again while he typed at his PADD, he was silent until someone knocked on the door. Uhura was there.

"Everything OK?" She asked.

"Could you watch Demora for a little bit? I need to go to Long-Distance, and I think it's best she isn't there." Uhura nodded, "thank you."

When he arrived at Long-Distance he took a seat in one of the private booths and dialled Ben. No answer. He could feel dread in the pit of his stomach. He dialled again. Call ignored. He dialled again. After a while Ben answered, he had no shirt and his hair was dishevelled. "Hikaru, is everything OK?"

"Who's Mike." He signed.

"Hikaru-"

"Who is Mike and why is Demora telling me that he told her I couldn't know about him because it would make me sad?" He heard another voice, muted and out of view. _'Is he there with you?'_ He typed, too angry to focus his hands on signing.

"Hikaru it isn't-"

"It's true, isn't it?" Ben fell silent. He'd been caught. He sighed.

"I-"

"Just don't," he signed, trying desperately to hold himself together. "Ben I- I need to go."

"Hika-" he was cut off by the call being ended. Hikaru sat there for a minute, composing himself. He ran his hands over his face, feeling something cool drag over his cheek. He looked at his hand, his wedding ring glared back at him. He took it off and held it between his fingers. Anger bubbled beneath the surface but he had to hold it together, he could talk to Ben once he was calm and had processed everything. Ben. The thought made him even angrier. Knowing he couldn't let Demora see him like this, he forced the ring into his pocket and went to the gym, asking a crew member who worked in Long-Distance to let Uhura know.

In the gym he found a pair of gloves and tried taking his frustrations out on one of the punch bags. It rattled heavily on its chains as he delivered blow after blow to it. Now he understood. He was sure this was behind Demora stowing away on the ship, she had known. He wondered how long she had been forced to keep this a secret. He got angrier and punched harder. It did nothing. Discarding the gloves, he went to the track and started running. And running. And running. He ran until his legs gave almost gave out beneath him and he felt himself being picked up and carried to the side and sat his back against a wall. He looked up to see the Captain. He offered Sulu a bottle of water, he took it and drank. His throat was dry.

"Everything alright Lieutenant?" Sulu shot him a look. "Anything I can help with?" Sulu shook his head. "Anything you wanna talk about?" Sulu sighed.

"Ben has been cheating on me." He said, "that's why Demora stowed away. Or at least one of the reasons. I called to check, caught him in the act." He took the bottle and sprayed it on his face and hair. Kirk sat beside him. "It all makes so much sense." He said sadly.

"I'm sorry Hikaru," he said softly. "I'm gonna have to sign you off for a few days or have Bones do it. You need time to process this." He told him and Hikaru didn't argue.

"I don't know if I can face her Jim." He said referring to his daughter who was back in his quarters. "I don't think I can do this."

"Demora loves you, loves you enough that she stowed away on the Enterprise just to spend more time with you. She'll love you no matter what happens between you and Ben." He nodded. "Hit the showers Lieutenant, then get some rest, that's an order." Kirk pushed himself up to stand and offered Sulu his arm to pull him up. Sulu was unsteady on his feet for a moment but managed to get cleaned up and back into his clothes relatively unharmed.

When he arrived back at his quarters Demora was dressed and ready for bed. He dropped to his knees and opened his arms, she ran into them wrapping her arms around his neck, tears running over her cheeks onto his shirt. He held her tightly and stroked her hair, Uhura left them, placing a hand on Sulu's shoulder as she left. Once the door closed tears escaped his eyes also. "I'm sorry daddy," Demora sobbed in his arms.

"You don't have to be sorry baby," he assured her, "you never have to be sorry for this. This has nothing to do with you, understand?" He pulled her back and wiped her tears away with his thumbs. She nodded and he pulled her back to him and let her cry until she couldn't anymore. Demora fell asleep in his arms so he tucked her in to bed, pressing a kiss to her temple and pausing in the doorway for a moment to watch her sleep. Fresh tears spilled over his cheeks.

He sent a quick message to her teacher on his PADD explaining she might or might not be in class tomorrow. He wasn't going to force her to go if she didn't want to but he would prefer she went if only to keep routine.

In the end, she insisted on going to class the next morning. Apparently, they were going to be taking a tour of the Warp Core with Scotty and she had been looking forward to it. He told her teacher something was happening and if she felt Demora shouldn't be there to message him and he would come get her. But he never got a message, he was relieved. Instead he got asked if Demora could go with a friend after school. He agreed that she could. The child in question was another girl about the same age, he thought maybe a little older and he knew her parents from Alpha Shift. She was half-Orion with red hair, in tight curls, like her mother though her father was human. He knew her mother from the Botany Lab. "Daddy please can I go with Marta?" Sulu nodded.

"Of course you can, have fun OK?" He turned to Marta's mother, "let me know when she want's picking up."

"Will do," the woman said and held a hand to both children heading off to the Botany Labs. Sulu smiled, Demora was doing a lot better than he could have hoped. In his room he checked his PADD. There were messaged from Long-Distance saying Ben had tried contacting him. He ignored them. He knew he couldn't forever but he knew he had to calm down first. As entitled as he was to do so there was no point in going into this angry.

Uhura checked up on him around an hour after the end of her shift. "How're things?"

"They're as good as they can be. Demora is doing well which I think is what is keeping me from imploding right now."

"Hikaru you're allowed to be upset over this."

"I know, but, I can't bring myself to be. I can only feel anger. Maybe somehow I knew something was wrong I just couldn't figure out what," he said shaking his head. "I'm fine, I promise." After she left him he headed to communications. He asked for one of the Kid-friendly PADDs. Demora could now have her own, he decided, she'd been grounded for almost three weeks now and now he understood better, it didn't seem entirely fair. He adjusted the parental controls a little, allowing communication between her and other children in her class as well as archived age appropriate TV shows and movies for her to watch. He left it on her pillow, a surprise for when she got back.

Finding himself at a loose end Hikaru downloaded a book onto his own PADD to read, he was a few chapters in when he got a message from Chekov.

' _Everything OK my friend? You were not on the Bridge today,'_ Hikaru smiled at his friend's concern for him and typed back.

' _It's complicated.'_

' _Complicated? Would you like some company maybe?'_

' _That would be nice thank you.'_

Chekov arrived at his quarters soon after and Sulu left a bookmark on his PADD. "Is everything OK? The Keptin said you were on leave."

"Like I said, complicated." He sighed, "In short, Ben has been unfaithful, that's why Demora hid on the ship, she told me last night. I knew something was wrong but I never imagined this."

"That is terrible. Hikaru, I am sorry."

"Don't be. I noticed things were different while we were on leave. But again, I never suspected. It'll be fine," he assured his friend, "I'm just going to focus on Demora."

"That is a good idea, speaking of, where is she? Didn't her school finish hours ago?"

"She's over at a friend's an Orion girl called Marta, her mother works in the Botany Lab. She's nice."

"She is taking it well then?"

"A little too well. I don't suspect it will really sink in until we get back to Yorktown." Hikaru noted sadly.

"What are you going to do?" Pavel asked.

"Well I guess we'll divorce, I'm happy to split custody, if he still wants to, but I have a feeling she's mad at him, every time we've had scheduled time in Long-Distance she's refused to speak or sign to him."

"At least now you know why." Pavel offered.

"True. I'm hungry? Have you been to Mess yet?"

"Not yet."

"Come on, let's go."


	3. Chapter 3: Family is more than DNA

Chapter 3

It was over two weeks later when Hikaru finally agreed to speak with Ben. He asked Demora to wait in the common area of Long-Distance so he could speak to her father in private. She did, she had been resisting even going down there to begin with.

"Hikaru I-" Ben began to sign.

Hikaru held up his hand, speaking as he signed. "Please just don't Ben. I'm not really in the mood for it. I notified Starfleet, they're sending through divorce papers which I hope you'll sign, despite still loving you, I can't forgive you for this."

"I will I promise, how's Demora?"

"She's taking things better than I expected," Sulu admitted.

"What do we do about...?" Ben trailed off.

Hikaru sighed. "You're still her father," he said. "Maybe not in a biological sense, but you are, you've raised her. I'm willing to split with you, but if she wants to stay with me in space I do hope you'll respect that wish."

"I can," Ben said quietly. "I still love her, biology or no."

Demora was listening to her parents talk when she heard that. She didn't know what it meant, but she didn't feel she could ask her dad about it. So she asked her teacher the next day who explained that her daddy was her daddy because he had helped create her. To which she questioned, "so no biology means I wasn't made?"

"I suppose yes," her teacher said and in Demora's head she worked out that Ben wasn't her dad. She was upset and hurt. Had he not wanted her? He said he loved her? She was confused, but still upset at him for hurting her daddy, so she remained upset and even angry at him.

She continued in her refusal to speak to him. If he spoke to her while her daddy was there she would either nod or shake her head, if he wasn't there she would just remain silent. Ben grew irritated with Hikaru, assuming he was the one behind her distance. Though Hikaru insisted it was nothing to do with him. Ben didn't believe him but he still persisted with his daughter.

After a few months on board the Enterprise Kirk had arranged shore leave for his crew on a vacation planet. Demora was excited, she always wanted to see space and now she was on vacation, in space! The planet, or the part they were able to visit, was beautiful with exotic alien market places. Sulu and Demora ate the strange new foods on offer, some of them she didn't like, others she enjoyed a lot. "Did you enjoy shore leave?" He asked tucking her in after his first shift back.

"Yeah, it was good, the planet was really fun."

"I'm glad you liked it. Get some rest, you're back at school tomorrow." He reminded her. She smiled and rolled onto her side, hugging a bear he'd replicated for her shortly after her arrival. "Goodnight." He said softly.

"Night daddy," she smiled as her eyelids grew heavier.

The next morning Demora woke on her own, which was strange, she never got up on her own, usually her daddy woke her. Puzzled she went to the bathroom and was shocked to hear sounds coming from her father's room. In the main area of their quarters she read the clock, it wasn't the end of the sleep cycle yet, but something seemed wrong to her. She decided to wake her daddy. Entering his room, she found him clutching the blankets to him, with sweat on his forehead, his teeth were chattering, and even in the dim light he looked pale. "Daddy," she whispered, frightened and reaching for his shoulder. "Daddy," she asked a little louder, nudging him. "Daddy?" She cried. His eyes opened but remained unfocussed.

"Demora?" he asked, reaching out, "lights 40%" he called out, the room got brighter, "Demora where are you?" He asked nervous.

"I'm in front of you," she said, her voice frightened, he became nervous.

"Sweetheart I need you to bring me my PADD, it's on the desk."

"Daddy what's wrong?"

"Everything is OK sweetheart, just bring me my PADD." She did, "OK remember I showed you how to unlock it for emergencies?"

"Yes," she replied softly.

"Good girl, I need you to go to contacts and find Dr McCoy, alright?" His voice remained gentle and calming.

"I found him."

"Brilliant, can you press the green button, the one with the phone shape?" She did and he heard the call sounds, "Good girl, give it to me and go wait in your room alright?"

"But-"

"Please," he asked and she left, he heard her steps.

" _Sulu what the god damn- you do not look good,"_ McCoy answered.

"Bones, I can't see anything," he said softly, hoping Demora couldn't hear him. The last thing he wanted was to scare her.

" _I'll be right there,"_ he said.

Bones arrived and used his override code to get into the quarters. Demora was sitting on her bed with the door open, she looked at him, he could see the fear in her eyes. He smiled at her in an attempt at reassurance and proceeded to her father's room, tricorder in hand. He scanned Hikaru.

"You've got a virus," he said, "it's temporary and we don't have anything for it on the ship, you're going to have to come to medical and stay there." He said.

"But Demora-" Sulu was cut off by his own coughing.

"I'm about to examine her, she might need to come too, or she could be fine. Stay put," Bones told him seriously. "Hey sweetheart can I come in?" He asked softly. Demora nodded.

"Is my daddy OK?"

"He's a little under the weather but he's going to be just fine, can I take a look at you? Make sure you're OK?" He asked holding up his tricorder, she nodded and he knelt by her bed and held the machine up to her. "Look at that," he smiled, "you're perfectly healthy, wanna help me get your daddy to the med-bay?" She nodded, holding her bear. "Come on," he said holding out his hand. Sulu was on his feet, blanket wrapped around him. "I told you to stay put," Bones scolded her dad. "Come on, let's get you to medical," Bones held onto Sulu's upper arm.

"I can manage," he said and coughed into his hand, Demora screwed up her face, he didn't sound like her dad. As they left his room Bones tapped some numbers into the lock initiating a decontamination of the room.

Slowly Bones helped Sulu to medical, Demora following silently, still holding her bear. When they arrived the Dr on duty put Sulu in a bed and put a band on his wrist, syncing his vitals to the screen beside him. Bones told them what he could. A nurse drew some blood while a Dr shone a light in his eyes, the pupils remained unresponsive. Bones looked at Demora, she looked about to fall asleep but was forcing herself to stay awake. "Come on darlin' let's get you back to bed, huh?"

"But-"

"Your daddy is gonna be fine, I promise, the Drs and nurses are gonna take very good care of him, alright?" Reluctantly she nodded and allowed him to lead her back to where she and her dad lived. He tucked her back in and she fell asleep almost instantly. He stretched out on what he supposed passed for a couch and tried to get some rest himself.

By morning, or morning for Alpha Shift, the test results showed that the virus only targeted males, women couldn't even carry or pass it on, which relived him because it meant he could send Demora to school and not have her hanging around in the med-bay bored out of her mind. He messaged the Captain and placed Sulu on leave indefinitely, unsure how long this was going to last and attempted to arrange childcare for Demora once she finished school. Chekov and Uhura volunteered their services and he cleared it with Sulu before passing on the information to her teachers.

While under Uhura's care Demora listened to her talk in many languages, and Russian when with Chekov, she asked if they could teach her languages and was an eager student, in return she told them she could show them to sign, Uhura was familiar with Signing, but Chekov was happy to learn from her. She still had to sit through calls with her dad when he called, three times a week, his time. When she'd had enough practice she spoke only in Russian to him, Uhura and Chekov knew what she was saying.

" _I don't want to talk to you,"_ she said. At his puzzled look she hung up on him.

"Demora," Uhura said concerned. Ben attempted to call again, Demora hit ignore. He called again, Uhura answered it and Demora fled the booth. "Ben I'll try talking to her." She promised, signing, confused by the exchange she had just witnessed. She found Demora sitting in a nook in a corridor, knees drawn, arms around them. "What's the matter, why won't you speak to your dad?" She asked, kneeling on the floor.

"He isn't my dad." Demora told her angry.

"Of course he is."

"No he isn't. I heard him and my daddy, he isn't my biology," she said struggling to remember the word. "He probably never even wanted me, or why would he not help make me?"

"Are you sure you heard that? Maybe you heard it wrong?"

"I have almost perfect hearing," Demora told her, "my- the woman who carried me for my daddy, she was a part alien, they didn't tell me what kind, but I got bat-like hearing from her," Demora explained. Uhura was intrigued, but also confused.

"Would you like me to talk to him, ask him what you heard?" Demora nodded. "Alright, why don't we find Pavel and you can hang out with him while I talk to your- Ben?" Demora agreed so Uhura dropped her off with Chekov in the common area, picking up her PADD from her room on the way.

Uhura called Ben who answered on the first ring. "Is she OK?"

"She's a little upset," Uhura told him, "she heard you and Hikaru talking about biology?" Realisation formed on Ben's face. "Care to explain it to me so I can explain it to her?"

"Demora isn't mine biologically." He explained. "When I was a kid, I got sick, real sick, it was passed onto me from my father and from his and so on. It almost killed me, and it's how I lost my hearing, I decided that I would never have children, it passes through DNA and I couldn't risk that with my children, I couldn't put them through something like that. She's still mine, just not like that."

Uhura nodded, "I'll try explaining it to her, but I can't promise anything, I think she's still upset about, you know," she left it unsaid and he nodded.

"Thank you," he said and they hung up. She sent a message to Chekov to find out where he was, they were visiting her father. Well, she was, he was waiting patiently so he wasn't exposed to it.

"I got it," she told him when she came out, but she went to speak to Sulu first, ideally he should be the one to explain this to her. "I talked to Ben," she told him, "I worked out why Demora won't speak with him."

"And?" He asked, his voice sounded more like him, but his sight was still gone, or very blurred at times.

"She heard you talking about him not being her father biologically and thinks he never wanted her." Sulu dropped his head to his hands.

"This explains a lot."

"I can explain if you would like but it would be better coming from you," she told him. He nodded.

"Send her back in, I'll talk to her."

Sulu listened for Demora and invited her to sit on the bed with him, an arm around her. "Sweetheart, Uhura told me what you heard."

"Is it true?"

"It is, but it isn't why you think," he said firmly. "When your dad was a child, about your age, he got sick, just like his father and grandmother and great-grandmother. It passed down from parent to child, without fail. When he was sick he almost didn't get better. It's why he signs and wears hearing aids. So, when we said we wanted to have you he said he couldn't. He isn't your biological dad because he was so scared to make you go through the same thing."

"So he isn't my dad because he loves me?"

"He'll always be your dad. No matter what, because he loves you, he takes care of you. Biology doesn't matter when it comes to love. Understand?"

"I understand daddy." She said softly.

"Think you can go talk to him? I know he misses you a lot."

"OK," she replied. "Feel better soon daddy."

"I already do, but guess what," he told her, "because I can't see I can hear better. My ears are almost as good as yours," he grinned. She covered her mouth and whispered almost so quietly nothing came out. "I love you too," he smiled having heard.

Demora grinned and hugged him goodbye, Uhura took her back to Long-Distance where she communicated with Ben for the first time in months.

That evening Demora stayed with Marta and her family as the bridge crew were busy on a late shift. Demora was excited, she had never had a sleepover before. Marta's mother tucked them both in and said they could talk quietly for ten minutes before going to sleep.

Sulu was released from medical and cleared for work a week later and Demora was glad to have him back, she missed him. They spent an evening watching movies together with replicated movie theatre popcorn. She fell asleep at his side and he put her to bed, watching her sleep with a smile on her face before turning out the lights.


	4. Chapter 4: Restless Nights

Chapter 4

Two months passed and it was coming up to Demora's birthday, Ben had sent something to the next federation planet on their journey which Sulu was going to collect for her. Long-Distance approved a call to Sulu's PADD for Demora's party which was held in a rec room, most of the bridge crew were there, Scotty too. And her friends from school.

Demora was celebrating her 7th birthday. Despite Sulu insisting people didn't have to get her anything his friends still did. Thankfully it was mostly low-tech, mainly games and trinkets from planets they had been to.

That night Demora had a sleepover of her own with the four girls from her class including Marta. They were sleeping in replicated sleeping bags in the lounge area of their quarters.

Sulu was happy she had managed to settle into life on the Enterprise so well and he was pleased to see her relationship with Ben seemed to be much better, though she still insisted she wished to stay with him. He guessed she was still mad at him about cheating. In all fairness, so was he, but he had to be an adult about it, so he let her off.

One night, when Demora was sleeping over at her friends again, Sulu found himself having the most unusual dream. A sex dream, to be exact. He couldn't tell who the other person was, though their hair was curly and there was something oddly familiar about them. He couldn't see their face, but they were sucking his cock eagerly, Sulu moaned as he felt close but the other stopped and crawled over his body and their lips found each other and they shared sweet kisses before the head rested on Hikaru's chest a hand wrapping around his cock. Then he heard it. The voice. The voice he was very familiar with.

Sulu jerked awake, franticly making sure his only contained himself before sighing in relief. He took deep breaths and ran his hand through his hair. He sighed, whatever that was, couldn't happen again. Never. He realised with a groan that he was hard. Rolling his eyes, he went to the shower, reminding himself that it was a perfectly natural reaction and didn't mean anything.

Deciding he really didn't want a cold shower he turned on the hot water and took hold of his aching cock, after so long in space without Ben he had learned what he liked and could bring himself to orgasm fairly quickly when he needed to. But now he didn't have to. He wasn't on shift; his daughter wasn't with him. He could take his sweet time if he wanted to, and he wanted to.

He lathered the shower gel into his hands and rubbed slowly down his chest and body until he came to his hard cock. Closing his eyes his mind drifted to his dream, how it felt to have that mouth around his cock. He came quickly, eyes screwed tightly and the name " _Pavel_ " on his lips.

Sulu quickly realised what he had done. He rinsed off and dressed, getting a coffee from the replicator and headed to the Botany Lab to clear his head until it was Alpha shift's breakfast in the mess. On the bridge he ducked his head to avoid Chekov's smile and warm greeting, just nodded politely and attempted to focus on his work. It wasn't an easy task, Pavel was sitting right across from him, his curly hair, his cherry red lips. Sulu clenched his jaw. It was not the time, nor the place.

After about an hour he could barely focus and Kirk had noticed. "Mr Sulu, is everything alright?"

"I don't know Sir, I feel my ability to pilot the ship is compromised, I'm finding myself distracted."

"Go and rest Mr Sulu, consult Dr McCoy if needs be but try and see you are back in health tomorrow," Kirk said concerned.

"Yes Sir," Sulu said defeated as another pilot took his place at the console, he tried to ignore the looks on his crewmates faces, the confusion and concern for his wellbeing, Chekov's was the worst, as if he could tell, as if he knew. Sulu went back to his room, seeing no reason to take Demora out of school. But he was restless. He couldn't settle to watch TV, so he cleaned. He cleaned everything, changed the sheets on his and Demora's beds, even cleaned the mirror in the bathroom. When he'd finished barely two hours had passed, still five hours until the end of shift. He cleaned up and headed to the Botany Lab, when all else failed he could focus on his plants.

Chekov ended his shift and handed over the console. As he walked he checked his PADD for new messages, he replied where necessary. As he walked through the Enterprise, intending on going back to his room before mess he came across Demora waiting in the doorway of the school room. He checked the time on his PADD, Hikaru should have picked her up by now.

"Demora where is your father?"

"I don't know, he's late," she said confused, "and I'm gonna be late for gymnastics," Chekov remembered Sulu saying something about that, an officer from Engineering who used to teach it before Starfleet was offering a beginner's class. "Wasn't he on the bridge?"

"No he left earlier. How about I take you and find him?" Demora nodded and Chekov informed her teacher that Sulu wasn't himself and had been dismissed earlier that shift. "He's probably in the Botany Lab, he used to go there all the time when he needed to think." Sure as Chekov had said, they found Demora's father in the Botany Lab. "Hikaru," Chekov said softly, not to startle him. Sulu looked up and turned, surprised to see Demora.

"Sweetheart what're you doing here?"

"You forgot to pick me up and we're going to be late to gymnastics." Demora told him and he checked the time on his PADD.

"Oh God, I'm so sorry sweetie, I lost track of time in here. Thank you," he said to Chekov.

"Don't worry about it, you haven't been yourself, maybe you are coming down with something? Maybe you should see Dr McCoy?"

"Maybe. Come on, before we miss your gymnastics. Thank you, again," he said to Chekov.

On the way to the gym they picked up Demora's kit from her room and he dropped her off, promising to be back later. He then went to medical, there was no use delaying. He explained what had happened to McCoy, sans the dream, and McCoy agreed that he wasn't his usual self and checked him over.

"Nothing too bad, did you sleep well?"

"Not really, I couldn't settle," he said.

"Probably just tired, do you want something to help you sleep?" Bones offered.

"I'll see how I get on tonight, but if it continues I'll come back to you."

Sulu went to the gym, Demora wasn't finished so he sent a note into her class that he would be on the Track and went to get ready himself.

When he looked up from running sometime later he saw Demora sitting against the wall with a book and decided a couple more laps couldn't hurt, maybe they would tire him out enough to get some dreamless sleep. Sulu took his daughter back to their quarters and replicated them some food there rather than going to mess. As they ate he listened to Demora telling him about her day and what she learned in school. He was glad she was enjoying it so much. Then he was reminded there was only a year of their mission left. He wondered what would happen afterwards. He'd recently signed the divorce papers and Starfleet was handling things back home on his behalf, always checking in with him first. In a perfect world, he would like to keep Demora with him, in space, but he knew things didn't always go smoothly, they had been lucky so far.

That evening he dreamed of him and Pavel again.

It had been a week since the dreams had started but Sulu had just started ignoring them and trying to be normal around his friends. Demora was staying over with Marta again tonight so he'd accepted an invite to spend time with Kirk, Scotty, Chekov and Bones. Spock had been invited but he was taking double shifts, one on the bridge with Kirk and another in the Science labs. Kirk announced he had planned a stop for shore leave, teasing Sulu not to catch anything. It would be on a popular Federation Planet; they would get two days there. After that they had a scheduled stop that included work, he was still planning the landing party and Bones shot him a look saying he better not be included. Sulu thought back to the last landing party he'd been a part of, he almost missed it, but it was a potentially hostile meeting and he couldn't risk it.

Kirk declared work talk over and dealt cards or poker. Betting shots for fun.

Sulu returned to his room relaxed. He hadn't spent time with the guys like that in a long time. He missed hanging out with them. That night he was plagued by another dream, a stronger more realistic seeming dream. Usually he could tell he was dreaming but this one seemed so real. Pavel's lips were soft, his body firm. But Sulu woke, startled by his communicator. It was Marta's father.

Sulu was relieved that his body seemed to understand now was not the time for a hard on and dressed to go collect Demora. She'd had a nightmare and was inconsolable. "Thanks for calling me," he said as he arrived and he was let into the quarters. Demora was sat on the couch with Sana, Marta's mother, Marta on her other side.

"It's my fault, I said they could watch a movie on my PADD while Marta's was charging, I forgot the movie I had watched last was still on there. They only saw a little, but they both had nightmares."

"It was an accident, don't worry about it," he assured Marta's father. "What movie was it?"

"One of the old archive ones, Jurassic World or something." He replied and Sulu nodded.

Sulu knelt in front of Demora. "Hey sweetie," he said softly and she fell forward into his arms. "I'll take her home," he said to Marta's family, "sorry about this."

"Don't worry about it, nightmares happen." Sana smiled.

In their quarters Sulu sat on the couch with Demora holding onto him tightly. "Wanna talk about it?" He asked and she shook her head, tears still streaming down her face. "OK," he said softly and just held her quivering form. He lifted her with ease and replicated a bottle of water, "sip it slowly," he said. Demora eventually fell asleep in his arms so he tucked her into her bed and went back to his room. No less than half an hour later he felt his blanket being lifted and a small body next to his. Demora whimpered and he wrapped an arm around her. It was going to be a long night.

Reluctantly Sulu dropped Demora at school the next day reminding her they were talking with her dad that evening. He still had an hour before his shift so he headed to mess, having fed Demora in their quarters. He got his food from the replicator and scanned the crowds, he found who he was looking for and thankfully she was sitting alone. Sulu strode across the hall to where Uhura was sitting and sat in the seat across from her. "Morning," he said.

"Morning," she said a little surprised.

"We're friends, right?" He asked.

"Yes?" She asked, confused.

"Sorry I'm a little… I need advice. I've been…"

"Distracted? I know."

"No um, OK, I've been having dreams and they aren't just about me."

"Hikaru as your friend, let me remind you, I know you're fresh out of a divorce but maybe you should listen to what your dreams are telling you."

"You don't even know what they are," he said.

"You're distracted, fresh out of a marriage and crushing on the navigation officer, they're sex dreams," she told him matter-of-factly.

"They are not sex dreams."

"You don't deny liking Chekov?" Sulu rolled his eyes before lowering his gaze to his plate.

"OK they are but is it really that obvious?"

"Afraid so, I mean maybe not to the others, Kirk might be able to tell but you shouldn't worry, I'm pretty sure he likes you back." Uhura told him.

"You couldn't possibly know that."

"No but like I said, Kirk can tell and he tells me because for some reason he thinks I can do something about it." Uhura told him rolling her eyes. "Look you don't have to do anything about these dreams, they could be just that, but the way your eyes lit up when you thought he could feel the same? Maybe it's worth the risk? See you on the bridge."

"Yeah, see you," Sulu said, he had a lot to think about now, but first he had a shift.

Taking a deep breath Sulu headed to the bridge and took his place at the console beside Chekov. He smiled as he received the coordinates from Chekov and focused on piloting them towards their destination which was the planet Kirk had suggested for shore leave. They would arrive there in a few hours at warp, but Alpha shift had to finish checks before they could be dismissed. Luckily Kirk was in a good mood and made sure to get through the checks quickly and let them go.

Chekov walked with him to the school room for Demora. "Do you have any plans for shore leave?" He asked.

"Not really," Chekov replied. "What about you and Demora?"

"We'll probably visit some markets, try some new foods but I heard this planet has nice water and beaches."

"I had heard this."

"Maybe you could join us? For dinner or at the beach some time," he said.

"I'd like that," Chekov smiled. "Send a message to my PADD and I'll be there."

"Great, see you soon."


	5. Chapter 5: Shore-Leave Adventures

Chapter 5

Sulu picked up Demora from school and went straight to Long-Distance to call Ben before they went to explore.

Demora and Ben spoke for fifteen minutes and he wished them well on their explorations. Sulu was glad she was speaking to him; things had been tense for a while there. In their rooms they changed into casual clothes, Sulu got their bags and they went to the shuttle.

They checked into their Starfleet accommodation and left their bags in favour of finding a snack and exploring. "Ready to explore?"

"Yeah."

"Where should we go?" He asked spreading a Starfleet leaflet about popular places within an hour's shuttle journey.

"Can we go to the Mineral Caves?" Demora asked excitedly, "And the Botany Museum?"

"I think we can manage that while we're here, Museum today and Caves tomorrow?" Demora grinned and nodded. "OK, let's find the right shuttle."

Sulu and Demora got of the shuttle near the museum, a short walk away. The planet's red sun was hot in the sky and Sulu was happy he'd put extra sun lotion on Demora and brought it with him. The museum was bright but cool in the lobby, the building filtered out the heat from outside, _thankfully_ , Sulu thought, after being on the Enterprise in a 100% controlled environment coming into any kind of environment took some time to adjust. And this planet was hot, hotter than anything he'd ever encountered in San-Francisco and no doubt hotter than anything Demora had known back in York Town.

Sulu smiled as every plant they encountered Demora asked him questions, delighting in learning about the plants, she seemed really interested. "Daddy, I was wondering," she asked sipping some kind of juice in the cafeteria.

"About what?"

"When we go back in space, could I have my own plant, in the lab with yours? Or a small on in my room? I'd look after it I promise, water it every day and you could teach me to mix plant food."

Sulu considered, "I'm not saying no, but there are a lot of rules in the lab and on the ship in general, you would have to pick from the approved plants, and you would have to come with me to the lab because you wouldn't be allowed on your own, but we'll see." Demora grinned, Sulu smiled, she was getting a plant.

Finishing at the Museum Sulu applied more sun lotion to Demora and himself. They took the shuttle back dropping by their accommodation and changing for the beach and more sun lotion. They were spotted by Uhura while trying to find somewhere with space for Demora to play and for him to relax, she invited them to join her and the others. "Who else is here?" He asked.

"Jim and Leonard were here, they went to get food, Spock went to meditate, the heat is good but the crowds are giving him a headache, Chekov went for a swim, haven't seen him for a while but, oh wait, here he is," Pavel ran his fingers through his hair to shake out the water that was dripping on his face, nodding to them and held up his hand and pointed to his bag. He searched almost blindly for his towel in his bag. He dried his chest, torso and face applied his own lotion and pulled on a t-shirt. "How's the water?" Uhura asked.

"It is good, warm and clear. Did you have a good morning?" He asked Hikaru.

"Yeah, we went to the Botany museum, Demora's idea, we're going to the Mineral Caves tomorrow, anyone is welcome to come with," he said smiling to his friends as they set up sun loungers that were pre-set on the beach. Sulu let Demora play in the sand for half an hour before he called her over. "Demora come sit in the shade for a while," he said opening a beach umbrella. Demora nodded, feeling the heat on her skin and crawled under the umbrella, digging in the bag for a bottle of water.

"Daddy can you put my hair up, it's really hot." She complained.

"I didn't bring a hair tie. Nyota do you have a spare?" She nodded and pulled one from her beach bag. "Thanks." Sulu brushed his fingers through his daughter's hair pulled it up in a messy but tight and secure bun, applying sun lotion to the areas previously covered by her hair.

Kirk and McCoy returned from their lunch and joined the others in the sun. McCoy pulled out his PADD, reading a book, Kirk had rented a surf board along with Chekov and they had headed up the beach to where the waves were bigger. Sulu saw his daughter looking at the soft waves in front of them. "Wanna go for a swim?" He asked her, she nodded and held out her arm, knowing he would be applying _more_ sun lotion.

Sulu and Demora splashed about in the shallows for a while, but she wanted to venture deeper. He led her out to where she was chest deep. "Look," she pointed up the beach to where Kirk and Chekov were surfing and giggled as they both fell in attempts to get upright. Sulu chuckled as his friends surfaced and laughed. "Daddy I wanna learn to swim," she told him, "could you teach me?" Sulu smiled.

"Of course I can. Here, lay back," he said, bringing his hands to support her back in the water. "Arms out, and kick your legs. If you wanna learn properly we can see if there's any lessons back on the Enterprise," he said walking back up the beach with her back to the shade and to dry off. Demora nodded eagerly. Demora sat back in the shade with a spare shirt over her swim suit and shorts. Sulu dug in the bag and found a snack for her to eat. Swimming was hungry work as declared by her growling tummy.

The Bridge team departed from the beach around an hour later, Sulu and Chekov exchanging ideas for dinner. Demora was asleep in her father's arms, wiped out by the day's activities. He decided to let her sleep until he had showered.

Demora, perked up from her nap, walked happily holding her father's hand as they walked through the slowly cooling streets of the City they were visiting. Chekov met them there having been placed in different Starfleet accommodation. Once seated in the restaurant Hikaru gave Demora an activity book for while they waited to order before turning his attention to his colleague. In the light he could see sun-rosed skin on Pavel's cheeks and nose. McCoy would probably lecture him about that and he had no doubt Jim's face would be similar considering how much time they spent in the sun.

"So did you have any plans for tomorrow?" Hikaru asked.

"I was hoping the invitation for the caves was still there, if that's OK."

"More than OK, right Demora?" Demora nodded, she heard them but was engaged in a word search in her activity book. "We can meet up at the shuttle tomorrow morning."

Chekov smiled, "sounds good to me."

Through their meal Hikaru found himself drawn to Pavel in ways he hadn't noticed before. He noticed things. Like his smile, which was shy but lit up his whole face. Or the way his curls fell in front of his eyes when he laughed, which made him sigh and push them back again. He remembered Kirk 'joke' about planning to have someone hold him down to cut them because it kept happening at the console. He also had a genuine connection with his daughter. He would take the time to talk to her, listen to her, ask her opinion.

Uhura was right.

He did like Pavel.

A lot.

But was she right about the other thing? He wondered, could Pavel really like him back? He tucked Demora into bed that night and thought of the day ahead of them tomorrow when his PADD lit up on the dresser of his room.

A message from Pavel illuminated his screen.

 _I had a nice time tonight._ And there was a smiley face emoji.

 _Me too_ he sent and added a smiley face of his own as an afterthought, wishing he had the courage to write more.

The next morning Sulu and Demora met Chekov at the shuttle station. Marta and her family were there though they were going back to the Enterprise early, her parents were on restock duty, so Sulu offered for Marta to go with them which her parents agreed and were grateful for. Marta hated helping them with restocking. Mainly because she wasn't allowed to do anything to help, most of the things her parents worked with were either too big or too dangerous for her to help with.

The girls played games on their PADDs during the shuttle ride, Hikaru had wanted to take the opportunity to talk to Pavel but felt he should leave him as he had fallen asleep. Apparently, the person in the room next to his had brought someone back to their room last night and the walls in the Starfleet accommodation were thin.

Shortly after their arrival at the caves the four were kitted out with helmets, headlights and other safety gear and shown an instructional video on safety. Their guide took them through the route until they came to a large artificially lit cavern with a few different caverns breaking off in other directions. The guide said they were free to explore as all caverns lead back to the original one.

Marta and Demora led the way into the first cavern they explored which had dripping water and pillars growing from the ground. "How come there's piles of rock with water dripping on them?" Demora asked and Chekov answered.

"Those are called Stalactites and Stalagmites. A stalactite is an icicle-shaped formation that hangs from the ceiling of a cave, and is produced by precipitation of minerals from water dripping through the cave ceiling. A stalagmite, however, is grows upwards and is a mound of mineral deposits that have precipitated from water dripping onto the floor of a cave." He explained to Demora and Marta who listened with interest as did Hikaru.

"You know your stuff," Hikaru said as they walked around the area.

"My mother studied Geology," he shrugged, "when I was a boy I used to borrow her books when I got bored of my homework."

"You got bored of homework so you did more homework?"

"No, um, the local school did not cater to my intellect, I got bored with how easy it was. My mother liked to challenge me." He explained.

The second cavern they entered held a large expanse of crystal clear water, it looked only a few inches deep but in reality it went down easily 30ft.

They explored the caves for a few hours before deciding it was time to head back to their accommodation and back to the ship. Demora and Marta slept the journey back to the station, "I was wondering," Hikaru began, realising now was his chance before he chickened out, "if maybe one evening you'd like to hang out a bit? After work for a few hours maybe?" God, he was so out of practice here.

"I would like that, I enjoy spending time with you and Demora."

"Actually I thought just me and you?"

"Like a date?"

"If you want-"

"I'd like that," Pavel smiled and put a hand on Hikaru's arm.

Back on the Enterprise Hikaru woke Demora, she would be on a ' _light'_ school day where she'd be in class but the teacher would be taking it easy on them as most kids would be half asleep from shore leave and a disrupted sleep schedule, but before he took her there he sat her down.

"I need to ask you something," he said sitting across from her at the table in their quarters. "How would you feel if I went on a date?"

"Why are you asking me?"

"Well because it wouldn't just affect me, you live here on the ship with me. Your opinion is important to me on this, and I wanted to check you're OK if I start seeing someone."

"Are they nice?" She asked.

"He is nice." He assured her.

"Will you be happy?"

"I think so," he smiled.

"OK." Demora said.

"Are you sure?"

Demora nodded, "yeah," and slipped from her chair to wrap her arms around him. Sulu smiled and hugged her back.

"Alright let's get you to school. Tell your teacher if you start to feel tired." Demora nodded and he took her to school.

Demora made it through school, barely, so by they had made it back to their quarters she was essentially sleepwalking. The crew had all returned and Sulu and Chekov had set a course for them to their next destination, a planet the federation wanted to make a trade deal with, but had the potential to turn hostile. Three days' travel, only some of the travel could be done at Warp as there was an asteroid field previously known for catching Warp ships off guard.

He tucked her into bed and messaged Ben that they couldn't call tonight and promised to call before school and shift in the morning. Sulu went straight to sleep, relieved that it came easy.


	6. Chapter 6: Date Night

Chapter 6

Hikaru was getting nervous, he had dated before meeting Ben, but he met his husband in while at Starfleet and they married after his first mission. Date night didn't get to happen a lot before or after they had Demora. Before Ben he was a teenager and everything was awkward and fun and just messing around. What did people even do on dates?

Hikaru chastised himself. He was being silly. He and Pavel would just have a quiet night in together, they would have food and watch a movie or something.

 _Something._

Another thing for him to think about.

He didn't think that Pavel would want to have sex that evening, but he wouldn't rule it out. But he wasn't sure he wanted to rule it out either. His dreams had returned with greater force, he found himself locking his sleeping quarters as it sound proofed them, so Demora didn't hear him moaning in his sleep. He couldn't imagine the horror he would feel if she did.

Demora was stopping at Marta's tonight, for Marta's birthday. He had their quarters to himself. Barring all incidents.

 _Touch wood._ He thought rolling his eyes and mentally begging whatever was out there that Kirk's landing party went off without a hitch and he and Pavel could leave any flying of the ship to Beta shift.

Pavel bounced on his feet in front of the mirror in his quarters, taking a deep breath he messed with his freshly cut hair, for the twelfth time in as many minutes. He was nervous. His crush on his shipmate had gone on for longer than he cared to admit. But now he was getting the chance he had dreamed of. Frequently dreamed of. More so after his crewmate had become a single man.

He'd dated. Of course, he had dated. Once he was of age and no longer considered _jailbait_ that is. He'd had a few flings on shore leave and the occasional few weeks of dating as he attempted to get over his crush on who quickly became one of his closest friends. Now just shy of 22 he stood preparing for a date. A date with Hikaru Sulu.

He dressed in casual clothes and rubbed some cream McCoy had given him on his cheeks and nose glad that it soothed the slight burn still remaining from his time on shore leave. The Captain clearly had it worse than him, by the looks of how he was shifting uncomfortably in his uniform shirt when he was on shift.

Pavel got dressed, calmer in his casual clothes took a deep breath before he felt able to leave his room. He paused in the corridor by Hikaru's quarters, calmed himself once more before knocking. The doors slid open to reveal an equally nervous looking Hikaru. This calmed him, he smiled. "Hi," he said softly, smiling shyly.

"Hi," Hikaru replied smiling, "come in."

Pavel ducked around Hikaru and into his quarters, careful not to brush against him for his own good. The door slid closed and Pavel jumped a little, though he tried not to let it show. "What eez ze plan?" He asked, his pronunciation slipping showing he was nervous, resisting the urge to stuff his hands in his jean pockets.

"I thought a movie, we could have something to eat, sound good?"

"Da, zat sounds good."

"Are you OK?" Hikaru asked concerned.

"Da, um, I am, I'm just nervous," Pavel blushed.

"Oh thank God," Hikaru said and Pavel looked at him surprised. "No, um, not like that, me too," he smiled at Pavel who deflated and relaxed with a smile.

They put on a movie, an old one from the archives Hikaru had never seen, but Pavel insisted was a good one. Sulu had his arm slung over the back of what passed as a couch, his fingers teasing at the hair at the back of Pavel's neck. Through the movie they edged closer together, in his head Hikaru chuckled at how young and teenage-like their behaviour was. By the near end of the film Pavel's back was against Hikaru's chest they had found the position really naturally and they fit together just right. Pavel's hand was resting on Hikaru's thigh and Hikaru's fingers were stroking Pavel's side, slowly pushing up the material of his soft t-shirt. Pavel sighed relaxing into Hikaru who smiled. He was hesitating, he wanted to take things further with Pavel, he was still just unsure. Pavel however was more sure of what he wanted as his hand was slowly making its way up Hikaru's thigh. It was now or never and Hikaru was determined not to lose his chance.

His hand, previously teasing Pavel's shirt hem, stroked over Pavel's stomach and up his chest, coming to his chin he gently tilted it up and took the chance to press their lips together. Pavel turned, awkwardly, in his position to sit beside Hikaru, leaning eagerly into the kiss, Hikaru's hands held Pavel's face in his hands, Pavel's fingers nimbly opened the top button of Hikaru's shirt.

Hikaru's hands slid down, over Pavel's body to his waist and with no resistance he pulled Pavel into his lap. Hikaru's hands brushed Pavel's sides as the navigator kissed him and unbuttoned his shirt. "Should we?" Hikaru's eyes darted towards his room, he bit his lip, he was nervous again. Pavel smiled and nodded, standing from Hikaru's lap he held out a hand to him. On his feet he kissed Pavel again, Pavel pushed Hikaru's shirt off of his shoulders, letting it fall to the floor, their bodies flush together. Hikaru's hands held Pavel by the waist, pushing up his t-shirt he pulled back from the kiss.

He smiled at Pavel, "I've wanted to do that for a long time," the Russian spoke softly.

"Me too," Hikaru replied and turned leading Pavel by the hand to his room the door slid shut, as a precaution, and Hikaru brought their lips back together. Pavel backed Hikaru up against the bed and manoeuvred them to lay on the bed, kissing down Hikaru's body and opening his pants. Hikaru lifted his hips when Pavel pulled on his trousers, pulling them down, kneeling between Hikaru's legs he kissed Hikaru again. Pavel's hand rubbed over the bulge in Hikaru's boxers, smiling against his lips.

Hikaru's eyes slid shut as Pavel's hand breached his boxers and closed around his half-hard cock. He moaned against Pavel's lips. Pavel smiled and trailed his lips down Hikaru's body, pushing down Hikaru's boxers as he did. Pavel paused to get a feel of Hikaru's cock in his hand before taking it into his mouth, eyes sliding closed as he felt the weight on his tongue. Hikaru supressed a sigh, exhaling through his nose as his cock hardened in Pavel's mouth as his tongue dragged against the underside of his cock. Hikaru's fingers clutched at his sheets as he felt a coiling feeling in his stomach grow tighter as Pavel sucked his cock. Suddenly a chill hit his skin as Pavel's mouth released his cock, he looked up at Hikaru, saliva glistening on his lips. "Do you have any lubricant?" He asked and Hikaru nodded, twisting onto his side to tap in the code to the screen of his locked bedside draw as Pavel shimmied out of his jeans and boxers. Pavel poured the lube onto his fingers and Hikaru watched, they hadn't spoken about how this was going to go down much, but he didn't mind either way. He attempted to move, pushing himself up and widen his knees to give Pavel better access but Pavel leaned forward over him and his lubed fingers started opening himself up. Hikaru raised an eyebrow. "I might have practiced this in preparation for tonight," he admitted and Hikaru kissed him.

Hikaru reached back into the draw, finding a condom he broke his kiss with Pavel who sat back so he was able to roll it onto his length. Pavel removed his fingers from his ass and looked at Hikaru who was rubbing lube onto his cock. Pavel leaned back down to kiss Hikaru who pushed himself up to sit in preparation. Pavel knelt over Hikaru's cock and held his shoulder with one hand, the base of his lover's cock in the other and slowly began to guide himself down onto Hikaru's cock.

Pavel focused on the sound of Hikaru's breathing to centre himself, Hikaru felt amazing inside of him, but it had been a while since he had last been fucked and he knew he needed to take it slow or he would pay for it on his shift tomorrow. Closing his eyes tightly he hid his face against Hikaru's shoulder, cursing in Russian under his breath.

Hikaru pressed kisses to Pavel's skin, kissed, licked and nipped at his neck and shoulders, being careful enough not to leave any marks, well none that could be seen above his uniform anyway. Pavel was so hot around his cock and sinking lower. He paused every now and then to let himself adjust, but Hikaru was patient, even if he was desperate to fuck into him. Pavel stopped and exhaled slow and deep, he was slowly regretting this choice of position. "If you want to move around, let me know," Hikaru whispered softly, sensing his discomfort. Pavel nodded against his shoulder, and Hikaru helped lift him off of his cock, peppering kisses to his face. "Do you want to take a minute?"

"No, I am fine, I was curious about the position, it was uncomfortable, but I do not wish to stop." Pavel assured him. Hikaru nodded and kissed Pavel once more. Pavel kissed him back and pulled Hikaru as he lay back on the bed, Hikaru over him. "We can try like this?"

"Sure," Hikaru said pressing a kiss to his lips before manoeuvring himself properly between Pavel's legs. "Ready?" He asked and Pavel nodded. Hikaru pressed the head of his cock inside of Pavel, pausing to remind him to keep breathing. He leaned forwards to kiss Pavel, pushing in slowly as he did so. He started with slow, shallow thrusts of his hips, kissing Pavel softly. "You feel amazing" he whispered as Pavel started kissing his face, moaning quietly in his ear.

"'Karu," Pavel said breathlessly, "there, fuck, yes," he moaned softly. His body was adjusting to Hikaru and the ache was turning to pleasure. One of Pavel's hands moved between their bodies to his cock, growing hard and stiff between them and stroked as close to Hikaru's thrusts as he could get. Hikaru came first, moaning against Pavel's shoulder, he pulled out carefully and kissed him, taking over from Pavel's own hand jerking him off to completion. Hikaru hurried to clean them up before climbing back onto the bed where Pavel was laying. He lay beside him, propping himself up.

"Are you OK?" He asked as Pavel rolled onto his side with a slight hiss which he attempted to hide.

"Yes," Pavel smiled, "just a little sore, but I liked it," he added. Hikaru leaned in to kiss Pavel again.

"Me too," he replied and Pavel smiled into the kiss. Hikaru checked the time, it was still early. Pavel's stomach let out a growl. They had still yet to eat anything. They quickly took turns showering and got redressed and Pavel hurried back to his room to get a clean uniform for the morning so he could stay over and not sneak out early.

The hot water from Hikaru's shower had relaxed his muscles but Pavel spent the night laying on his stomach or side as he and Hikaru slept, he was glad he made it to the bridge before Kirk, not sure he could face it if the Captain knew what he'd gotten up to the night before. Hikaru chuckled and was unable to meet his gaze without turning red. When the Captain did arrive on the bridge it was clear the landing party had gone well considering he was in one piece, smiling and Dr McCoy wasn't hovering.

A month passed blissfully without incident and Sulu picked Demora up from school and took her straight to gymnastics after his shift. Pavel had left before him and promised to drop by later that evening. Hikaru wanted to tell Demora about his relationship with Pavel but was unsure if he wanted to information to reach Ben. Not only was he unsure of Ben's reaction it wasn't really his ex's business if he started seeing someone.

When Demora finished her class they went to long distance so she could talk to Ben before heading back to their quarters. Once inside he prepared a snack for her and sat across from his daughter at the table. "Am I in trouble?" She asked.

"Should you be?"

"No, but you have your serious 'talk-face' on." Demora teased her father, Hikaru relaxed a little.

"Because we're going to have a little grown up talk. You know that I've been on some dates?" Demora nodded, carrot sticks crunching in her mouth. "Well we think it's getting serious enough for you to meet him and see what you think? If you'd like that." Demora thought briefly before nodding.

"OK," she shrugged.

"OK?"

"OK." Demora repeated. "What?"

"Nothing, um, he's going to come around later, OK?"

"OK, can I go to my room?"

"Yeah. Go ahead." Hikaru let out a breath, that was easier than expected. Then again, she still didn't know _who_ it was he was seeing.

Chekov arrived at Hikaru and Demora's quarters and knocked. Hikaru let him in and pecked his cheek. "Hey, so I told her… Ish, she doesn't know it's you. Yet, um, Demora," he called, "sooner rather than later," he thought aloud, "drink?"

"Tea," Pavel told him as Demora entered the room.

"Hi Mr Chekov," she waved. He smiled at her and turned to Hikaru.

"Come and sit down sweetie. We have to tell you something."

"Mr Chekov is the person you've been going on dates with?" She asked taking a seat.

"How-?"

"Whenever you had a date I was always with Miss Uhura or Marta's family. Seemed logical."

Pavel raised his eyes, "Spock showed the class the Science Lab this morning." Hikaru explained. "She's mentioned logic 6 times since I picked her up from school."

"Daddy can I have some milk please?" Hikaru got Demora some milk.

"And you're OK with me and Mr Chekov going on more dates?"

"You said he makes you happy and is a good man."

"Well her logic is sound," Hikaru told Pavel and reached across the table to place a hand on his. "Demora could I ask you something?" He turned his attention back to his daughter. "Could you not tell your dad. It will be better if it comes from me, rather than you. OK?" Hikaru felt awful, but he needed time.

"I won't tell him," she promised. "Can I go now?"

"Yeah, you can go."

"That went well," Pavel said as the door to her room closed.

"As well as it could have," Hikaru agreed. Their communicators made a noise on the table, Hikaru answered, "Sulu and Chekov here."

" _Mr Sulu could you both report to the bridge we have received a distress call and I want my best on this."_ Kirk's voice said.

"Be right there, Captain." He closed the communicator, "I'll see if Paul, Marta's dad can watch her, he's got Marta now. Demora, come on, you need to go to Marta's." He'd talked to her about this, it was a code, so he could avoid scaring her if he could avoid it.

Paul took Demora without question, having gotten the alert about the distress call and it had been pre-arranged who would watch her depending on what shift was working.


	7. Chapter 7: The Trouble with Tribbles

Chapter 7

Sulu and Chekov arrived on the bridge and took their posts, waiting for Kirk to brief them. Spock arrived minutes later and the Captain began. "We have received a distress call from Space Station K-7, Mr Chekov can you chart a course and Mr Sulu get us there as soon as possible. Lieutenant Uhura, hail them and let them know we're on our way."

"Yes Captain." Uhura turned to her station and flipped the relevant switches. "A message from the Station Manager, he wishes for you to beam over to speak." She said confused.

"Spock and I will go and see what the issue is," Kirk said, "Mr Spock," Spock and the Captain headed to the turbo lift, Kirk turned back, "Mr Sulu, you have the Conn, keep us in orbit," he instructed.

"Aye Captain." Sulu said setting the controls on the console.

Barely half an hour later Kirk sent a communication to the Enterprise and then to Sulu directly. "Mr Sulu, allow Beta shift to relieve you and place all free crew on Shore Leave."

"Aye Captain," he nodded to his fellow Alpha shift members that they could go but remained there until the Beta Captain would arrive to relieve him.

"We'll wait for you." Pavel told him, Uhura at his side.

"No, it's OK, I'll debrief Beta and catch you guys up, take Demora over?" Hikaru asked and Pavel agreed.

Uhura and Chekov picked Demora up from Marta's family and went to the transporter pad explaining her dad would be with them shortly. On the Station they found a mostly empty café where a man in a large coat was attempting to sell the man behind the bar something. He ignored the man and went straight to his customers. The man in the coat attempted to continue his sale, producing what appeared to be a small ball of fluff. The man behind the counter didn't seem interested, but Uhura thought the ball of fluff looked adorable. "Can I?" She asked and the man in the coat handed the creature over and it began to purr.

"What is it?" Demora asked standing on her toes. Pavel lifted her into his arms so she could see the creature he and Uhura were fussing over. She stroked its fur, giggling at the noises it made.

"It's a tribble," the man in a coat explained, "10 credits," he tried to continue his sale, the man at the counter tried to bargain lower, insisting he wasn't interested.

"If you aren't I am, this little guy is adorable," she said smiling as Demora and Chekov petted the creature. The men seemed to make a deal, "can I get this one too?" She asked, "how much did you say?"

"For the lady? Free of charge," the man insisted.

"Thank you," Uhura said as Sulu joined them. They ordered their drinks and sat down, Uhura let Demora hold and fuss over her new pet to keep her occupied. They spent a couple of hours on the Station Kirk and Spock joined them "what was the alert for?" Uhura asked.

"Do you remember the paper I read on Sherman's Planet?" Spock answered.

"A few weeks back, yeah."

"The Station is holding a grain, the only Earth grain that can survive on the planet."

"That doesn't explain the distress call." Sulu said.

"A Federation undersecretary is nervous because of how close we are to Klingon Space."

"I thought we were in the Neutral Zone?" Chekov asked.

"We are, but on the very edge." Spock informed him before they were requested back with the manager. Rolling their eyes, well Kirk rolled his eyes, Spock resisted the temptation, they found their way back to the office to find two Klingons.

"Like that archived movie, say their name too many times and they appear," Kirk said this time resisting an eye roll. "Mr Lurry what can I do for you?"

Mr Lurry pulled Kirk and Spock aside, explaining how the Klingons were requesting shore leave and the request was making the Federation undersecretary ' _unsettled_ ' but he didn't have the authority to refuse them what they wanted. Kirk however did. Spock however, reminded Jim that upsetting the Klingons could cause unneeded disruption. "Captain Kirk," the Klingon captain began, "my ship is unlike your Federation, we do not possess leisure facilities, my crew are entitled to shore leave."

"That they are Captain, my crew are also aboard on shore leave. I want no trouble, there are families aboard this station, understand?"

"We understand."

"But Captain-"

"I assure you Mr Lurry that for every Klingon on the station," he turned to the other captain, "and there are to be no more than 12 at a time," he turned back, "I will have a member of my security for each of them." He assured the manager. "No trouble."

"I assure you." Captain Koloth said.

Kirk nodded and left the office, immediately making contact with the bridge of the Enterprise to enforce his promise of security.

Back in the café Sulu lifted a tired Demora into his arms. "I'll take her back see you guys later?"

"I'll come back too," Chekov said, saying their goodbyes to Uhura who had been joined by Carol Marcus and Dr McCoy. Back aboard the Enterprise Sulu put Demora to bed, but was confused as it was usually a couple of hours before she would feel tired. "Is everything OK?" Pavel asked.

"Just a little strange, normally she's still wide awake."

"Probably just the excitement over the tribbles."

"Probably," Hikaru agreed sitting beside Pavel at the table "I might let her have one, might help teach her some responsibility, she's doing really well with her flower." He said, after their last shore leave he'd let her pick a flower from the ones allowed in quarters and she had chosen a small Andorian flower with a colourful bloom, when it grew. Hikaru smiled at Pavel, "you know you don't have to stay here with me right?"

"I know, I want to. Unless you would like me to leave."

"Never," Hikaru assured him, hand on Pavel's arm he leaned in to capture his lips. "You know now that we told her you could stay the night if you'd like."

"I'd like that," Pavel agreed between kisses.

Hikaru later slipped out to care for his plants in the botany lab, Pavel was in the bathroom of the family quarters, brushing his teeth when he heard a door inside the quarters open and small feet scampering around. Rinsing his mouth, he went to check and found Demora looking around the living space, presumably for her father. "Your father has gone to feed his plants," he told her, "he'll be back shortly, are you alright?" He asked.

"My head hurts, can I have some water?"

He replicated her a bottle of water and made her sip it while sitting on the couch. He sat beside her, hitting continue on a TV show she had been watching earlier. She quickly fell asleep and he took her back to bed, leaving the water nearby, informing Hikaru when he returned. "I wouldn't be too worried," he assured Pavel, "but I'll check on her before sleeping."

The next day the three entered a rec room where a crowd had gathered around one of the tables, Demora seemed back to her old self. Uhura called them over and Demora sat in the chair beside her where almost 15 tribbles were strewn about the table. "Your tribble had babies?" Demora asked.

"Looks like it."

"Can I hold one?"

"Of course you can," Demora picked up a tribble purring in her direction, holding it carefully like she had the day before. The doors opened and Kirk and Dr McCoy came in and over to the table.

"How long have you had that thing Lieutenant?" Kirk asked.

"Just overnight Captain."

"Uhura mind if I take one of these to the lab?"

"You're not going to hurt it right?"

"No, just look into it for some records. I've checked, they exist but there isn't much research on them."

"Alright, I guess they're old enough." McCoy picked up a tribble from the table and other crew members began asking if they could also have a tribble, Uhura told them yes.

Sulu knelt by his daughter. "Would you like one?"

"Really?"

"You have to look after it." Demora nodded.

"I will."

"Nyota, can we?"

"Sure, go ahead." Nyota smiled at Demora who hugged her new pet.

"Come on, we have to go to Long-Distance. See you later on the Station?" Hikaru said to Pavel.

"See you then." He smiled, Hikaru was about to tell Ben about them, and it was probably best they spoke alone.

Hikaru called Ben from Long-Distance, Demora in the waiting area.

"Hikaru, where's Demora?"

'She's just outside, I need to talk to you first,' Hikaru signed but didn't speak out loud. Ben understood and signed back.

'What's the matter?'

'I just wanted you to hear from me that I'm seeing someone. Demora knows and understands.'

'I see.' Ben signed back.

'This won't be a problem?'

'I have no right to make it or see it as a problem. Just be careful with her,' Hikaru resisted the urge to roll his eyes as Ben clearly hadn't given this thought before.

'I will. I'll get her now.' Ben waited for Demora to appear on screen.

"Hi dad, look what I got today," she said excitedly showing him the tribble in her hands. Hikaru signed for her as she held her pet.

After talking with Ben, Hikaru dropped Demora off at her classroom so she could update her log the teacher had all the children keep. It was good practice as children of Starfleet employees were 67% more likely to enrol themselves in the future. "Done," she told him.

"Alright, we have to go to the bridge now, so stay next to me because you aren't supposed to be up there. We won't be there long."

There were minimal crew on the bridge, Spock was among them and nodded in greeting to Sulu. Sulu checked over commands input by the Beta shift pilot and navigator and cleared the commands to continue. Demora was looking around the bridge with interest from his side. She'd never seen it before, he remembered when he first saw it, he was sure he had felt much the same. "Is that what the station looks like?" Demora asked catching sight of the window. Sulu nodded, still working. "Can I go look closer?" Sulu turned to Spock who nodded she could go closer.

"Alright, be careful." Demora stepped cautiously towards the window showing the station and the vast expanse of space before it. She felt a hand on her shoulder, her dad. "Ready to go back over?" She nodded, taking his hand she let him lead her back to the turbo lift and off the bridge.

Two hours later Demora was once more complaining of a headache and was rubbing her eyes with a tired look. Sure it was nothing serious Sulu took her back to their rooms to lie down. She watered her flower before letting him dim the lights, a cold bottle of water at her bedside and her new pet housed in a previously unused storage draw with some towels.

Sulu sat in the living space with his PADD, he sent a message to McCoy asking if he had any recommendations. His reply said what he was doing should work but if she continued to complain of them he should bring her in to get looked at. This calmed Sulu a little. A little later Demora left her room, her eyes looked red and sore and he could hear her sneezing before he saw her. "Daddy I don't feel good." She said snuggling close to his side.

"Let's get you to the sick bay." He said concerned and lifted her into his arms to carry her, afraid she might just drop. Once there McCoy spotted him right away put down the tribble he was holding and saw to it that Demora got seen almost immediately.

"Let's get a look here," he held the tricorder up to her. She sneezed again.

"Didn't you only get one of those from Uhura?"

"From what I can tell all they do is sleep, eat and breed. I took a walk earlier to find Jim, they're everywhere. On the Space Station too. Alright sweetheart open your mouth let me take a look in there," he shone a light on her throat. "Hmm, glands look a little swollen, let me see," he felt her glands around her throat delicately. She sneezed again.

"Sorry," she sniffed.

"Don't you worry darlin' I'm a Doctor, patients have sprayed me with worse," he assured her and turned to her father. "Looks like an allergic reaction. Probably the tribbles. I've had 6 crew members come to me already with the same symptoms."

"Does this mean I have to get rid of mine?"

"Afraid so." Hikaru told her.

"But she just had babies. I checked there were lots of them in the draw I put her in to sleep."

"Sweetie they're making you feel sick. Sorry honey but they have to go."

"OK," she said after sneezing again.

"You lay back and I'll get an allergy hypo. There's already a clean-up starting, I'll have your quarters put on priority." McCoy told him.

"Thank you Doctor." Sulu sat on the edge of the bio bed and Demora hugged herself to his side as the Dr prepared the hypo. Her dad brushed her hair to one side exposing her neck for the hypo and she closed her eyes tightly as it was injected.

"You should both get decontaminated, get rid of any trace, clean-up is heading to your quarters now to decontaminate everything. I need Demora back here for observations once decontaminated. I'm also gonna get an IV she's pretty dehydrated, might explain the headaches."

Hikaru took her to decontamination and after a few seconds in the chamber she was done. Back in sickbay McCoy started an IV and Demora drifted back to sleep. "Why is she falling back to sleep?"

"The hypo had a small sedative in it, she'll feel better after sleeping it off." He explained and Hikaru nodded. "As a head's up she'll probably react similarly to animals back home, cats, rabbits and such, some people are OK with dogs, but again, no guarantees."

"I'm gonna go get a message to Ben. In case he feels like getting pets. They aren't allowed in York Town but after this me and Demora at least will be in San Francisco."

"Well she'll be out for a couple of hours at least so don't worry about her waking up."

Sulu nodded and pressed a kiss to her hair, mainly relieved she was OK but still worried. In Long-Distance Hikaru got through to Ben. "Hikaru? Everything alright?"

"Mostly, I just thought I should let you know Demora had an allergic reaction to the tribble and is recovering in sick bay. She'll be fine but in the future she'll probably react similar to cats and things like that. Dr McCoy says people who have the same allergy can be OK with dogs, but no guarantees."

"She's doing OK?"

"Yeah, he gave her an allergy hypo, she's sleeping it off." Ben nodded. "I think we should discuss something, about after the space mission. I'm going to go back to San Francisco, stay there until I get reassigned. Obviously, I want you to still see Demora, she wants to see you, so I don't know how you want to do custody."

"I'll admit I've thought about it. My boss has transferred me to Starfleet HQ, affective next week. I'll be in the city, find a place." Ben worked in medical, but on the ground team from the start, his hearing aids added to his illness as a child and the health problems he suffered were seen as too much of a risk for active space duty.

"OK." Hikaru nodded.

"What about," Ben paused. "What about when you do get reassigned? What happens with Demora?"

"If she wishes to come with me, I'll fill in the paperwork and I hope you won't fight me on it. It's up to her as far as I'm concerned." Hikaru told him.

"I won't fight you on it," Ben assured him, "I want her to be happy, can I pick her up when you arrive back?"

"I'll bring her to you, I want my parents to see her first, they know about our split, they aren't happy with you and I'm not sure how they'll react to seeing you."

"I understand. I should get to work. Thank you for letting me know." Hikaru nodded and hung up, sighing. That went as well as it could have. He collected his PADD from their rooms, freshly decontaminated, the team had worked that fast, he thought. Using his PADD he sent Pavel a message about what had happened. He got a concerned reply asking if she was OK, he replied that she was doing fine as he sat beside her bio bed. McCoy would come and run the tricorder over her every half an hour or thereabouts, informing Hikaru that she was recovering well.

When she eventually awoke she looked a lot healthier than she had done. McCoy examined her and declared her in full health. "Sulu, take these," he said handing over a small box of hypos, "give it her first thing in the morning and don't leave your quarters for 30 minutes until it settles in, it's a precautionary shot, in case there are some tribbles laying around. These won't knock her out so she'll be fully alert for school and such. They'll help with the exposure, but not if she comes into contact with them. The one from earlier will cover her until tomorrow."

"Thanks Leonard," Hikaru said softly, taking the box from him he helped Demora from the bio bed.

"Thank you Dr McCoy," Demora said.

"You're welcome darlin'," he smiled.

They returned to their quarters taking a quick detour to the botany lab, knowing it would be tribble free for the good of the plants. Hikaru watered and fed his plants, Demora helping him where she was able. Back in their quarters Demora asked if they could just watch a film and take it easy, which Hikaru was very agreeable to.

Pavel arrived soon after, Hikaru sent him a message that she was out, and the navigator assured them he'd been to decontamination before coming to them. Demora went to bed roughly when she normally would, despite her nap that day.

"The Space Station is also being overrun. The tribbles ate all of the quadrotriticale grain that the Enterprise security had been tasked with protecting." Pavel told Hikaru.

"Is the Federation undersecretary mad?"

"Not as mad as he was, apparently, the grain had been poisoned and would have harmed the settlers on Sherman's Planet, the tribbles eating it tipped him off."

"I wonder who poisoned it," Hikaru thought.

"It was his associate, Kirk was holding a tribble near him and it started making a growling sound of sorts, like it did near the Klingons."

"Really?"

"Yes. Also, Scotty told me they're working on getting rid of the tribbles. Should be gone by tomorrow evening."

"Well that's a relief." Hikaru agreed.

"Kirk told me to tell you to bring Demora to the bridge until they're definitely gone, bring school work or a book for her. Just to be safe." Hikaru nodded and leaned into Pavel.

"Thank you."

"It's OK," Pavel said softly. "You should sleep Hikaru, it's been a long couple of days," he said. Hikaru nodded against his shoulder and Pavel wrapped an arm around him, Hikaru mostly asleep. Pavel lead him to his room and helped him get ready for bed, he made to leave when Hikaru called him back.

"Stay? If you want, I like it when you're here."

"Me too," Hikaru smiled as Pavel slipped into bed and held him "good night, Hikaru." Hikaru mumbled a sleepy goodnight into his shoulder.


	8. Chapter 8: The Trouble Begins

Chapter 8

Their final diplomatic stop went off without a hitch and the Enterprise set a course back to Earth, with a few scheduled supply drop offs on the way. Alpha shift were in their sleep cycle but Jim Kirk wasn't sleeping. Something just felt off to him. It began earlier in their shift, they received a Comm from Starfleet informing them their current course would be unavailable, for unspecified reasons.

He sat in his quarters, in the dark, reading on his PADD when the lights brightened around him. He looked up to see Bones rubbing his eyes. "Trouble sleepin'?" Jim sighed and nodded, putting down his PADD. Bones sat on the arm of the couch behind where Jim was sitting, placing a hand on his shoulder. "'S the matter?"

"Just somethin' feels off about the Comm we got from Starfleet. Probably nothing but just worried you know?" Bones smiled and rubbed Jim's shoulders.

"Maybe because we're nearly done out here? You're made for Space Jim, if Starfleet can't see that well it's their loss."

"Thanks Bones," Jim smiled and leaned back into Bones who wrapped his arms around him.

"Come back to bed," Bones said softly, Jim nodded with a sigh and followed him back to bed.

After finishing school and their shift Sulu, Demora and Chekov were in a rec room with Kirk, Scotty and Uhura. Kirk was teaching Demora how to play 3D chess and totally not letting her win. In his defence Chekov was helping her. "Don't you guys have anything better to do than watch me lose at chess to a 7-year-old?" He asked Uhura and Scotty.

"Nope." Uhura told him and Scotty added:

"Not a thing Cap'n."

Kirk grumbled and looked at the board, Demora could checkmate him next move. He could prevent it, but he enjoyed seeing her happy when she won, so he made a bad move and she looked past him to where Chekov was no doubt signing to her what piece to move and where. "Checkmate."

"Again? You're getting good at this kiddo. Up top" He held his hand over the board for her to high-five. "I gotta go check on something but maybe Scotty can challenge you to a game?" He looked to Scotty.

"Absolutely." Scotty agreed, they switched seats and Kirk went to a monitor to check in with the bridge but found he couldn't get through. He tried again when they heard the engines grind to a painful sounding halt, (thankfully they weren't traveling at light speed) and the lights dimmed and flickered leaving them into darkness. Demora slipped from her seat and ran over to Sulu, who held her protectively as a face came into focus on all screens in the room. Sulu stood, keeping Demora tight at his side as he tried to see the face, it looked somewhat familiar, but he couldn't place it. All he could tell was it was Romulan. The face started talking, but it wasn't English.

"Uhura can you translate?"

" _Captain Kirk, listen good. You killed my brother and for that I will have my revenge. You and your pilot,"_ they turned to look at Sulu, " _You both are responsible. Heed this warning, and prepare to lose the ones you love."_ The message shut off, no one dared to speak. Kirk and Sulu's eyes met, they knew what this was over.

 _At the start of their mission, a few months in, they had been tasked with investigating plant life on the surface with the Science and Botany crews. Sulu had volunteered to Pilot the shuttle knowing they'd allow him in on the research. He and Kirk had been separated from the main group and found a Romulan who had crashed there._

 _He surrendered to them and asked for help from the Federation to get off the planet. Kirk and Sulu although nervous agreed, and searched him for good measure. He had no weapons and had told them nothing but the truth so they took him back in the direction of the meeting point but it had grown dark and they became lost in the forest, unable to reach the Enterprise due to interference with the comms._

 _They spent five days wandering in the wilderness, unable to reach the Enterprise, but were able to see it in orbit around the planet and got to know the Romulan quite well. He had been exiled and had intended to reach out to the Federation himself, but had crashed on the planet before he was able._

 _But they had been attacked in the night, a nocturnal predator had taken a fancy to them and the Romulan had died protecting his friends, taking the creature out with him. Kirk and Sulu made it out of the forest a few hours later and were picked up by the sensors on the Enterprise. They reported what had happened in their logs and were saddened to have lost an ally to the Federation._

 _As they were leaving a Romulan ship had entered the space around the planet, Uhura had monitored the hails the ship sent to the crashed one on the ground. They would have gotten nothing back._

The Romulan ship must have seen the Enterprise before it entered Warp and jumped to conclusions. Kirk attempted to explain this but the Romulan on screen was having none of it and said his crew were coming aboard to find what he and the 'pilot' most loved.

"Scotty, if you get to Engineering could you override their frequencies blocking communications?"

"Aye, I reckon I could. But I'll need help."

"I can go with him." Chekov volunteered.

"OK," Kirk nodded, Chekov spent plenty of time in Engineering, he knew what he was doing. "OK, we need to get to the Bridge if the lights are out, we can guess the engines are out, meaning only the artificial gravity is on, the ship is gonna drift and it's gonna flip. We need those engines back so we can stabilize the ship." Kirk explained, but he was cut off by 'shushing' coming from by the door.

He turned to see Demora shushing him and the others, she began signing at her father who mouthed to him, ' _She can hear non-Starfleet boots in the hallway, too heavy, to be crew_.' Kirk nodded understanding. He and the others watched Demora carefully as she closed her eyes to focus on listening in the corridor. Once she gave the all clear they returned to making plans.

"Bones was with Spock in the Science Labs," Kirk spoke quietly. "I'm not worried about him, he can handle himself, Sulu what do you wanna do?" He asked his eyes darting back to Demora for a brief second.

Sulu turned to Pavel, "take her with you, once you're there, hide her. She can help you navigate the ship, she can listen for their patrols, warn you when they're coming." Pavel looked to Kirk, then Scotty then back to his partner. "She's safer with you. They'll likely be guarding the bridge. Keep her safe?"

"I'll keep her safe," he vowed.

"Right, we still need to get out of here." Kirk said turning his attention to the door, Scotty joined him, examining the panel.

"The door release is too loud, it would give us away," Scotty noted, "but that there," he said nodding to a large vent, "should be quieter. Any movement out there?" He asked Demora who was crouching by the vent to listen. She shook her head. "Better sooner than later." He said to Jim who nodded.

Sulu called his daughter over while Scotty silently unscrewed the vent grate. "You're going with Mr Scott and Pavel OK? They need your ears and you'll be safer with them."

"What do they want me for?"

"I'm not sure but promise me something, if they get you, you kick and you scream and you bite and fight and run. You raise hell and make them regret ever taking you. Understand?" Demora looked frightened, "sweetheart?"

"I understand," she nodded and he pulled her into his arms

"Atta girl. We're going to be OK, alright?"

Demora nodded against him. Kirk signalled they were ready but needed her to listen for a minute to be sure. Demora gave the all clear, slipping out of her sneakers as they tended to squeak against the floors which could give them away. The two groups split in opposite directions, Kirk, Sulu and Uhura towards the Bridge and Scotty, Chekov and Demora to Engineering, Demora having taken off her sneakers as they tended to squeak against the floors.

As they travelled through the corridors they could feel the ship begin tilting to the point they were walking along the walls, Chekov guiding Demora so she didn't slip into the light fixtures when they came to a corridor coming off of the one they were walking, giving a sharp drop descent into the Engineering department. The far side of the corridor had railings which they could scale down, the side they were on had two way mirrors seeing into the observation rooms.

"We have to get over there," Scotty said, measuring up to the at least 8ft gap and then down at Demora before back to Chekov.

"You go first then I'll jump with Demora," Chekov said sounding very determined.

"You sure?" Chekov nodded, pulling Demora aside so Scotty could take a run-up. Chekov covered Demora's eyes for good measure, not a bad decision since Scotty barely made it, pulling himself up onto the ledge with a huff, giving Chekov a thumbs up. Chekov looked at Demora and then the gap and then back at her to find her looking up at him. "Ready?" She looked over her shoulder at the gap before nodding, though she still looked unsure. He turned his back to her and knelt, "climb on." She did, securing her legs tightly around his middle her arms around his shoulders. "Hold tight," he said preparing for a run up. She nodded against his shoulder.

He bounced on the balls of his feet before taking off at a run towards the gap and leaping over it as far as he could. His hands grasped the ledge and he held on tightly, calling for Scotty to pull Demora up so he could pull himself over. Demora stood holding onto Scotty's shirt as Chekov caught his breath. "Are you OK?" He turned to her, she nodded. He looked over the edge, at the bottom of the corridor the entrance to Engineering was closed, meaning they could land on something solid rather than dropping straight in. Scotty went first again, scaling down the handrails, dropping onto the door frame. Chekov told Demora to climb onto his back again for him to scale down. Demora dropped the last few feet for Scotty to catch her so Chekov could land safely. Pinning themselves to the walls Scotty used his access code to open the door. Suddenly the ship jerked, tipping suddenly back the right way up, or mostly anyway.

"What was that?" Chekov asked as Demora held onto his shirt.

"They must be flying by to turn the ship," Scotty said.

Once they were more or less the right way up they entered the Engineering department and located the control panel they needed to bring the engines and thrusters back online.

While fighting the literal uphill battle to the Bridge Kirk, Sulu and Uhura ducked into the Science labs after hearing Romulans in the corridor ahead. Bones and Spock were in there with some Ensigns and two other Science officers. "Bones you gotta get outta here," Kirk told him, "they're looking for you."

"I know, Jim I'll be fine, but what're you planning to do?"

"I'm going to get to the Bridge and surrender, but I have to be on the Bridge or they'll shoot on sight, they're pretty pissed."

"Jim that's suicide," Bones exclaimed.

"Maybe but it isn't just you they're hunting." Leonard shot him a confused look, "Sulu was there with me, they're after Demora, I can't let them hurt her or any other member of my crew, even if surrender is what it's going to take. I'm sorry Bones, I have to."

Leonard's eyes slid shut because he knew Jim was right. He knew Jim would never let any harm come to anyone on his ship, especially one of the kids on board. "What can I do?" He asked, hands on Jim's arms.

"Just stay safe," Jim replied, letting his head fall forwards against his shoulder for a few brief seconds as Bones nodded, discretely pressing his lips to Jim's hair.

Jim, Hikaru and Uhura reached the turbo lift to the bridge to find it clear. "We gotta get the doors open, they're gonna be shut tight without power," he told them. They listened for any near-by patrols before forcing open the doors. Once sealed inside they relaxed a little, despite what they were about to do. They were three floors below the Bridge and would have to climb the remaining floors. They helped Uhura climb up and open the lift hatch, pushing her up through it. She pulled Sulu up and they both helped Kirk. They climbed the inside of the shaft balancing on a ledge outside the Bridge. Kirk and Uhura pulled it open from opposite sides, letting them inside to find a frantic Beta crew.

Jim took command and told them what was happening in Engineering, or what he hoped was happening. "Uhura try and establish a comm link within the ship they can't intercept; we need to find out what's happening with Scotty."

"On it," she said taking over her station.

"Sulu how're the systems doing?" He asked going to the console he usually shared with Chekov.

"Mostly online, still just the power."

"Captain we're being hailed by the Romulans."

"Put it on the screen." He instructed. "Oh shit," he cursed when present with the image of Bones, bruised ad roughed up being restrained by a Romulan.

' _Let go of me_ ,' a small voice screamed off screen followed by a Romulan cry out in pain followed by a cry of pain from what Sulu realised was Demora. ' _Oww_.'

"Demora?" Sulu turned pale.

" _Captain Kirk, glad to see I now have your attention_." The Romulan's face appeared and he could see other members of his crew behind him.

"Wait don't hurt them," Kirk called out.

" _Jim don't do anything stupid_ ," Bones warned off-screen.

"It's me you want, take me and let them go."

" _Jim-"_

"No Bones, I'm the Captain and I surrender myself in exchange for the safe return of my crew you've taken."

" _I accept your surrender Captain Kirk, come in a shuttle."_ Kirk shut his eyes and nodded solemnly. _"You have two hours."_ The screen shut off and Uhura let them tentatively know that she had gotten through to Scotty. Chekov and Demora had gone to look at a separate panel and not come back, he went to look for them and had been knocked out cold, but he had managed to get the power online finally.


	9. Chapter 9: The Great Escape

Chapter 9

On the Romulan ship the prisoners from the Enterprise had been thrown into a dark windowless room their hands being tied together with something resembling Terran cable-ties. Bones had been separated as had Demora in the chaos and put in another room, the Romulans probably had no intention of surrendering the two of them, but he knew she'd been hit pretty hard when she'd played up and wanted to take a look at it quickly. The area was red and sore and would bruise but she didn't have any open wounds. "You OK sweetheart?" He asked once he'd checked her cheek and face. She nodded, wiping her tears on her sleeves. She frowned at the tied binding her wrists. "What?"

"I need a shoelace," she said softly. He looked confused but shifted and kicked off his Starfleet issue boots.

"Will this do?" She nodded, pushing her socked feet into them for leverage and proceeded to get the cable-ties off her wrists.

"Gotcha," she whispered triumphantly.

"Where'd you learn that?" He asked holding his own bound hands out, she started working on them, telling him step by step how to get out.

"Back in Yorktown my babysitter showed me a video teaching me to use a shoelace to escape, I had nothing for show and tell, my teacher didn't like it, neither did dad." Bone's supressed a laugh. "But I took my sneakers off on the Enterprise because they squeak against the floors."

"We gotta get outta here," he noted, they too were in a windowless dark room, a single flickering lightbulb hanging from the ceiling. "You hear anything out there?" He asked nodding to the door, she went closer, light on her feet and listened.

"No sound, not even breathing."

"How'd you know that?"

"When I listened on the Enterprise they breathe loudly." Bones nodded. "I hear footsteps."

"Might be a patrol," he said, "OK I'm counting, tell me when they come by again." After half an hour the footsteps returned twice and a third time, "every ten minutes," he said. It wasn't a lot of time, but he could work with that. "But how to get out?" He thought aloud, "don't suppose you can pick locks too?" He joked.

"Dad wouldn't let the babysitter teach me," she said.

"Seriously?" She nodded. He sighed.

"What about the vents?" She asked pointing at the vent grate on the wall. Bones looked to where she was pointing. It wasn't too small, but it wasn't exactly near the ground either.

"Pretty high, don't think I can climb up there, but I bet I can lift you. You up for that?" Demora nodded, biting her lip. "If you're unsure I don't want you to do something you're uncomfortable with."

"I…" She trailed off.

"It's OK, we'll find another way," Bones assured her.

"No I can," she protested and he raised an eyebrow. "It's just really dark in there."

"It's alright," he smiled.

"No it isn't, a girl in Yorktown said only babies are scared of stuff."

"Everyone is afraid of something. Even grown-ups."

"Even you?"

"Especially me. Can you keep a secret?" She nodded, miming zipping up her lips. "I'm scared of space," he stage-whispered.

"But you live and work there."

He chuckled, "I know but it isn't so bad once you get used to it."

"Like the dark?"

"Maybe. Look Demora we're gonna get out of here, just don't do something you don't need to OK? You got us out of those ties. OK?"

"OK." She said but she still looked at the vent.

On the Enterprise Kirk prepared to pilot a shuttle to the Romulan ship when the airlock opened. He turned to see Sulu, a hard look on his face. "I'm coming with you."

"No."

"Captain-"

"No, Hikaru, it's me they want."

"And what you think they'll just hand over the crew if you surrender? No I'm coming with you. They have my daughter and the man I love and I'm not gonna sit on the Enterprise and wait for Romulans to keep their word." Kirk studied his pilot, he knew he was right, but he didn't want more casualties than there already was. He sighed.

"Alright, come on."

"I wanna go in the vent," Demora said after twenty minutes of other escape plans.

"Demora we went over that."

"I wanna. I can do it. I promise. Please, I don't like this room very much." Leonard considered everything. He knew there was little chance of them getting out otherwise.

"Fine, but anything happens or you get scared you come straight back OK?" Demora nodded. "OK, come here," he lifted her and she climbed into the vent. "What's it like?"

"S'not so dark. But it smells funny." Bones tried not to laugh. "What now?" She asked.

"Have a look around but try to remember your way."

"OK." He heard her shuffling through the vents getting quieter as she got further away.

Jim and Hikaru piloted the shuttle towards the assigned docking station, formulating a plan between them. Just before docking when they were too close to the sensors for them to differentiate Hikaru took an escape pod entering the Romulan ship unseen and undetected into the cargo bay. The Romulans seemed so sure of their advantage over the Enterprise nobody was guarding the area. His phaser in hand, ear piece Scotty had been working on in his ear, and homing beacon in his pocket he began to navigate the enemy ship.

Kirk landed the shuttle in the docking station, armed Romulans were waiting there for him. He left the shuttle and held up his hands, "take me to your leader," he said, trying not to smirk as he did. The Romulans didn't respond other than to hold out a pair of cuffs, he let them cuff him and followed their lead.

Demora had been mapping out the vents for almost an hour when she started to hear familiar voices. She followed them until she was looking down at the taken crew members. She searched their faces, Pavel was there and Sana, Marta's mother, one of her teachers and a few more of her dad's friends. She gently pushed the covering to see how easy it would open, it creaked, catching the attention of one of her teachers who sitting close by. He didn't see Demora and she turned back making the quick journey back to Doctor McCoy. "I found the crew," she said to him but made no attempts to climb out of the vents. The locking mechanism on the door hissed and Demora pulled the hatch closed and shuffled around a corner as silently as she could.

"Where's the girl?" A gruff voice asked.

"She's safe," McCoy said defiantly. "What do you want with her anyway?"

"Search the ship," the voice said ignoring his question. Demora listened as the room emptied and crawled carefully back through the vents to where the crew were. She pushed the vent open catching everyone's attention.

"Demora!" Pavel rushed over to the group of people helping her down. "Are you alright?" He asked as she threw her arms around him.

"They took Doctor McCoy," she told him. "They're searching the ship for me because I wasn't there." She noticed his hands, like most of the others were bound together with cable ties. Before she could do anything, she heard footsteps outside of the room. "They're here," Pavel had never seen her look so afraid.

"Back in the vent, quickly," he and a few others lifted her back into the vents and closed the hatch securely. She watched as they entered the room and searched every person, removing them one by one.

Pavel was worried about Demora and he had no idea where the Romulans were taking them. When they came to a shuttle, he knew he couldn't leave without Demora, Hikaru would never forgive him, he would never forgive himself. He slipped under cover, finding something sharp to free his hands from the cable ties and hid until the shuttle was gone and the hanger was empty. Finally, alone he slipped back into the main part of the ship.

Hikaru had successfully evaded the patrols and had made it to what seemed the main floor according Scotty who had gotten most of the Enterprise back up and running. The Engineer had managed to hack in and found blue prints of the ship. He was currently talking Hikaru through navigating as he searched for his daughter. _"The shuttle is returning, according to contact Uhura made Mr Chekov and the wee lassie aren't aboard."_ Scotty told him. Hikaru's heart sank with dread, but he kept searching.

"Can you find them on Bio-Scans?"

" _I can see life forms; I think I found 'm, Chekov is a floor down and your daughter is around the corner on the left,"_ he said. Hikaru hurried, but Demora was nowhere to be seen.

"Scotty are you sure?"

" _Positive."_

"Daddy?" Hikaru turned to the voice seeing a vent grate.

"Demora? Is that you?"

"I can't open the vent." Hikaru stood on a pipe and wrenched the grate away from the wall, Demora clambered down into his arms.

"Thank God you're safe," he said softly into her hair as he held her.

"They took everyone," she whimpered.

"They're OK, everyone is alright. Come on, we need to find Pavel and get out of here."

" _Trouble ahead,"_ Scotty's voice caught Sulu's attention. _"It appears the Bridge is just through the doors in front of you, I managed to get into to security footage,"_ Hikaru pulled Demora to him as shots were heard on the other side of the wall and doors. Alarms blared and lights flashed.

" _Self-destruct activated."_ A mechanical voice said and repeated. " _5 minutes to self-destruct."_

" _Find Mr Chekov and activate your beacon, quickly."_

Scotty told them how to find Pavel and they activated the beacon, both shielding Demora from phaser fire as they were transported to the Enterprise. Scotty spoke into the comms he'd created once more and the Captain and Doctor McCoy were transported moments later, they had refused to leave until they knew the others were safe. Spock's voice filled the room over the speakers, informing them the Romulan ship had self-destructed and they were on the move to avoid debris.

Demora remained held tightly by her dad and Pavel, she had little intention to let either of them go until she absolutely had to, except for a brief check in the med-bay and when her dad gave her a bath. She was not far removed from one or both of them. That evening she slept between them and she slept easier than either could have hoped for.

Both Pavel and Hikaru were on medical leave until they had their psych evaluations and Hikaru was in no rush to have Demora back in school. Although he didn't like making her do things she didn't want to Hikaru was forced to put his foot down when it came to Demora sleeping back in her own room. To begin with he sat with her. Then sat closer to the door each night until she fell asleep. Every now and then she would climb in between them when she had a nightmare but as the weeks passed they became few and far between.

After the incident Ben was not happy about what had happened to his daughter and told Hikaru he did not wish for her to return with him to space. Hikaru wasn't exactly against the idea himself but he wanted it to be up to Demora, he believed acting what an adult believed was in a child's best interests was bad for a child's development. It took some convincing but Ben hesitantly agreed the choice should be left to Demora.


	10. Chapter 10: Homecoming

Chapter 10

The return to Earth was fast approaching and every department was making their preparations. Demora was in school when they arrived and her dad and Pavel were on shift so she had to wait patiently with Marta and a few other classmates until their parents arrived to collect them. Hikaru and Pavel signed her out of the classroom and sat either side of her on the shuttle back to San Francisco, listening as she animatedly told them about her morning. Pavel carried her down the steep stairs as Hikaru had their bags. She wriggled out of his arms and shot off across the tarmac as she saw her father's parents. "Grandma! Grandpa!" She leapt into their arms, Hikaru and Pavel followed. Hikaru had told his parents he was seeing someone new, they had been worried about him after his divorce but relieved that he was happy. They left Demora with her grandparents to attend debriefings, meeting at their house a little after nine pm to find they had settled Demora into bed.

"Will you be going back into space?" His mother asked, she was very proud of her son but she missed him greatly when he was away.

"I want to, I just have to wait and see if I get reassigned and where."

"You say that like the Keptin would go back into space without 'his crew'" Pavel joked. Kirk was very protective and a little possessive of his crew. He would probably hold a protest if Star Fleet tried to take anyone from his Alpha shift away from him.

Demora was reunited with Ben the next day, running over to him in the plaza in the city centre. "Dad!"

"Demora, look at you, look how much you've grown, you're so tall," Ben said taking a good look at her. "I missed you so much."

"I missed you too." Demora signed. Hikaru reminded him that she was still enrolled with the Star Fleet school and would need to be back Sunday evening to start Monday. He could have her until then.

Pavel and Hikaru moved into the Star Fleet family accommodations and awaited assignments for their stay. Pavel was asked to guest lecture at the Academy and Hikaru was asked to lecture in flight simulators and give demonstrations. Ben returned Demora to Hikaru Sunday in time for dinner.

"Did you have fun with dad?" He asked his daughter.

"It was OK." She shrugged.

"Something wrong?" She shrugged again. Pavel excused himself, feeling their conversation would be better off private. "What's the matter."

"I missed him. But I'm still mad."

"Why're you mad at him?"

"Because he made you sad and me keep Mike a secret."

"Well I can't make you not be mad at him. But I think if me and dad can still talk then you can still enjoy spending time with him."

"But he made you sad?"

"True, but now I have Pavel. And more importantly I get to share my work and life with you. I don't have any reason to be sad anymore." He smiled.

"You don't?"

"None." Hikaru told her. "If it helps, I'm not mad at him anymore."

"No?"

"No," Hikaru said smiling. "OK?" He asked softly. Demora nodded.

That evening Hikaru and Pavel worked on their Star Fleet lesson plans once Demora was in bed. "Is Demora OK?" Pavel asked.

"She will be. I think seeing Ben brought back some of her anger about cheating. But I told her I'm not sad about it anymore, I have you, her and nothing to be sad about."

"I'm sure she will come around," Pavel agreed, "sometimes being close to something again can bring up old feelings we thought were gone. Like the night after you first dropped her off with Ben." Hikaru remembered, he had been different that evening. "Demora's a smart girl, she will be OK." Pavel locked his PADD. "I have an early lecture, I'm going to bed," he said standing, "try not to stay up too late." He smiled and kissed Hikaru chastely.

"I'll be finished soon," Hikaru promised.

It was only four short months later when both Hikaru and Pavel got summoned by Star Fleet on a mission under Kirk again. Three years in space, supply runs and checking on newly established Federation planets and working treaties with others. It would be shorter than their last mission, which was probably a blessing.

They had just over a month before they were due to leave and Hikaru knew he should talk to Ben and Demora sooner rather than later, on the matter as he had seen a significant improvement in their relationship. He told Ben first, reminding him that he had agreed to let Demora decide whether she went with Hikaru or not. Ben agreed it was to be her choice. A week later Hikaru picked up Demora from school and took her home to change out of her uniform. "Sweetie when you're ready come out here, I need to talk to you about something." Hikaru made her afternoon snack and set it on the table.

"Thank you," she said sitting at the table where he had set it. He sat across from her.

"Star Fleet has asked me to go back into space again, and I agreed with your dad that you get to choose whether you come with me or stay here with him."

"How long for?" Demora asked. She looked unsure, she liked it in space before but now she liked having fun with her dad.

"Three years." He replied softly.

"Can I think about it?"

"Of course. We have three weeks." Demora nodded and Hikaru stood, kissing her hair. "I'm gonna get some work done."

Demora brought it up with Marta who was in her class at the school. Marta said her family were going back into space too. But to Demora it only made her decision harder. That weekend she decided to ask her dad what he thought.

"Dad?" She signed as he tucked her in.

"Yes sweetheart?"

"Daddy and Pavel have been asked to go back into space and want to know if I want to go with them. I don't know."

"Why not?"

"Well you aren't in space. But daddy and all my friends from school will be. Would you be mad at me if I go?"

"Demora I could never be mad at you." He said seriously, "if you want to go into space, then I think it'll be good for you. You really liked it the last time and I think you'll enjoy it again. And we can talk on video chat any time you want to."

"You really think I should go?"

"If you want to, I do. Besides no matter how far across the galaxy I'll always have you with me. Right here," he laid a hand over his heart. "And I'll always be with you." She placed a hand over her own heart. "Right there." Demora smiled.

"Goodnight daddy."

"Goodnight sweetie." He tucked her in and kissed her goodnight.

Three weeks later Demora stood on the tarmac of the Star Fleet shuttle port. "Ready?" Hikaru asked.

"Ready." Demora nodded.

"Alright, go say goodbye and we'll call later tonight." Demora ran over to her grandparents first, hugged them and said goodbye before turning to Ben. He knelt and she ran into his arms.

"Love you daddy." She signed to him pulling back in his arms.

"I love you too Demora. Be good and have fun alright?"

"I will," Demora grinned and hugged him again. Demora ran back over to Hikaru and Pavel who handed her the potted plant she had from the last mission, still thriving under her care. She waved and they boarded the shuttle, quickly finding a window seat with Pavel and her dad. She waved to Ben and her grandparents as they flew up to the ship, the Enterprise had undergone some modifications since their last mission but their quarters were the same, though now Pavel had officially given up his and moved in with them. Demora changed into her uniform and the little family walked down to the school room, Demora swinging between them. "Daddy I've been thinking."

"Yeah? What about?"

"You taught me how to look after my flower and it's really happy. Can you teach me other things too?"

"Of course I can, what did you have in mind?"

"I want to learn to fence." Pavel grinned, Hikaru had been wanting to teach her to fence since she could first walk, but being away for work had made it difficult.

"I would love to teach you to fence," Hikaru grinned, hugging Demora to his side. Demora was dropped off in the school room and Hikaru and Pavel headed to the bridge seeing many familiar faces along the way.

"Enterprise free from space dock."

"Coordinates set and locked in."

"Ready when you are sir."

James T. Kirk smiled at his crew and at the open space before them. "Punch it, Mr Sulu."

"Aye Sir."

 _9 years later…_

"I'm very proud of you, no matter what happens today, remember that." Hikaru handed his almost 17-year-old daughter her helmet.

"Daddy, stop worrying, everything will be fine. Go on, dad and Pavel will be waiting for you. See you out there."

"You won't be able to miss us."

Hikaru sat by his husband in the stands, Ben and he were discussing the competition. "Is she ready?" Ben asked.

"She's ready," he assured him. "Are the other's here yet?"

"Right here," Nyota Uhura said from behind him as she and the rest of their friends and children found their seats.

"Aunty 'Yota!" Hikaru and Pavel's four-year-old son cried from his husband's lap. Hikaru passed his son over so he could sit and play with his friends as the commentators announced the next match for the final spot on the Earth's Federation Games Fencing team. Pavel slipped his hand into his.

"She's got this. You've taught her well." He assured him as Demora waved seeing all her parents and her friends. She shook her opponent's hand, went back to her start position and slipped her mask into place as the claxon sounded.

Demora smirked under her mask.

This match was hers.


End file.
